Maccas pick for taste of victory
HEADINGLEY hero Ben Stokes grabbed $100 worth of McDonald’s on his way to the team hotel, having already revelled in watching a replay of his Ashes-shaking innings.
Stokes, who smashed an unbelievable 135 not out to single-handedly win the third Test, revealed there was also a “sing-song in the bath” in the England change rooms as part of a celebration that had to be called off at midnight.
“We celebrated at the ground as a team before we went back to the team hotel to catch up with friends and family,” Stokes wrote in his column for the Daily Mirror.
“Me, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Rory Burns and Joe Root all jumped in an Uber and got £55 ($100) worth of McDonald’s drivethru on the way.
“There were quarter pounders and fillet ’o’ fish flying everywhere!”
England’s players were given a midnight curfew when the match ended on Sunday, and so did most of their celebrating at the ground, and on it.
That included Jack Leach, who made just one run but survived so Stokes could smash the winning runs, replaying his deft prod which tied the scores.
Stokes also revealed that his England teammates and staff couldn’t move while he was clobbering 74 runs off 42 balls to even the series 1-1.
“All the lads were telling me about their little superstitions and how whenever anybody moved to get a drink or go to the toilet everyone else was telling them to get back as quickly as possible,” he wrote.
“Our analyst had his arm leaning on a table, holding the end of it which was quite sore because he didn’t move it for four hours.”
He said he would go home to “cut the grass” before getting ready for next week’s fourth Test in Manchester.
ENGLAND bowler Jimmy Anderson bowled 20 overs for Lancashire’s second XI yesterday in an effort to prove his fitness for the fourth Test.
The 37-year-old suffered a calf injury in the first Test that ruled him out of Lord’s and Headingley.
Anderson, who returned in a friendly against a Leicestershire side last week, started the four-day match in Chester with a wicketless six-over burst against a Durham second XI.
The specially arranged friendly at Chester was Anderson’s last opportunity to prove his fitness before the fourth Test at Old Trafford, which starts on Wednesday.