BEN’S BOWLING A BIG MISS

BEN STOKES is going to be a problem going forward if he is a captain-batter who only bowls occasionally. Knee niggles need careful management and the more you keep off them, the better they heal. But the issue I foresee is that an occasional bowler eventually doesn’t bowl at all, and if you don’t bowl at all you cannot develop rhythm or stamina. I think England will be crying out for one of Stokes’s signature spells this summer against Australia, the kind Andrew Flintoff used to produce, but miles in the legs are required to do that.