ANOTHER HIGH POINT FOR BEN
Thrilling victory in second Test gives skipper renewed optimism his young side can thrive
ENGLAND star Ben Stokes is on top of the world after being named ICC Player of the Year.
The all-rounder picked up the Sir Garfield Sobers award from the sport’s ruling body after a year of superhuman displays in both Test and one-day cricket.
Express Sport columnist Stokes said: “It is flattering. The last 12 months have been the best in my career.”
Pace bowler Mark Wood will replace James Anderson in the England line-up for the third Test against South Africa, which starts today, as Jofra Archer has not fully recovered from an elbow injury.
ROOT DEMANDING OF YOUNG GUNS:
JOE ROOT has demanded backto-back victories from England to show their Cape Town carnival was not the exception to the rule.
Away wins are hard enough to gather as it is, but to get two from two would be a stunning achievement for a young side feeling their way in the game.
Root has experienced that feeling just once in 39 Tests away from home, when he oversaw a 3-0 win in Sri Lanka in 2018, but he believes it could be done in Port Elizabeth this week.
The England captain said: “We speak a lot about attitude and effort and the environment we are trying to create and the culture of our three teams.
“I thought we lived that brilliantly across the five days down in Cape Town, so it’s about backing that up.
“With a young group of players the challenge is always going to be, once you’ve performed very well and won a game, can you back that up?
“I’m very confident we can but it’s a good challenge for us. It’s very exciting, especially with a young group of players.
“For us to get across the line in that fashion is a really big move forward for us as a team.”
The drama of a last-day win, with Ben Stokes leading the charge, understandably sparked memories of Headingley last summer when England got themselves back into the Ashes.
The joy and euphoria from Leeds soon disappeared in Manchester as the hosts lost the next game and Australia held on to the Urn. Although Stokes played a starring role in both wins, Root believes it is the additional collective effort shown in Cape Town that should stand his team in good stead.
Dom Sibley, below, enters this game as a Test centurion while South Africa could not dismiss Ollie Pope in the first innings, when he looked set for a hundred of his own before running out of partners.
Despite arriving as tour cover, Dom Bess did a brilliant job at controlling the run-rate, as well as taking important wickets with his off-spin. Zak Crawley also got a start with the bat and took two sensational catches. “The way that we won at Headingley was phenomenal,” added Root.
“There was a huge amount of effort that went into it from a lot of players, but in particular Ben. “He pretty much won us that game on his own.
“If you look at how we won the game in Cape Town, that was a real good team performance and I think that stands us in a better position to back that up this time around.
“I also think we have had a bit more time to get away, to understand what we did last week and to make sure we are not fatigued either mentally or physically.
“We are ready to hit the ground running. We are fresh and we can throw absolutely everything into it.”