Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
STOKES HITS THE JACKPOT
New skipper Ben is richly rewarded as Leach, Potts, Pope, Root & Co repay his faith as they put World Test champs to the sword
BEN STOKES stands on the cusp of a series whitewash over the Test World Champions thanks to the players he has put total faith in.
Whether it is Jack Leach and Matt Potts with the ball, or Ollie Pope and Joe Root with the bat, the response to Stokes’ captaincy has been remarkable.
While the batters have taken most of the plaudits to date, this was initially a day for the bowlers to show their value. And none more so than Leach (left), who picked up his first ever 10-wicket match haul with 5-66 in the second innings.
The ‘Nut’ is a hugely popular member of the England dressing room, however outside of the subcontinent his role on the field has been limited.
But on a dry surface in Leeds that offered just enough for him, he bowled like a completely different spinner to the one who appeared to be on borrowed time in the winter. Stokes him to do a job and Leach responded by mopping up a tail that had been exposed by Potts.
It included the wicket of Neil Wagner, caught in the knees of Sam Billings behind the stumps, who became England’s first in-game Covid replacement for Ben Foakes.
Every successful captain needs players, and bowlers in particular, that they can rely on. Who will keep running in and turning their arm over.
And in Potts, Stokes has found a North East gem who has taken to Test cricket in much the same way that Ollie Robinson did, only his mind and body are utterly fit for purpose.
With the incredible duo Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell threatening to turn the game completely New Zealand’s way, Stokes threw the ball to Potts again, hoping he would find a way through and in his first over back, he did, trapping Mitchell lbw.
It was the start of an eighttrusted over spell that never once let up in pace, skill or quality as Leach kept snaffling wickets at the other end. It was terrific Test cricket.
And such is the confidence now coursing through Stokes’ team it seems inconceivable that having reached 183-2 they won’t skip over the finish line on day five with 113 more runs required to reach their target of 296.
With Pope 81 not out and Root 55 not out, Stokes has two batsmen in the middle who are also revelling in their new roles and are producing the goods for their skipper.
How else do you explain Root’s reverse scoop for six off Wagner when he had made just 16.
This is the world’s finest Test batsman giving his team-mates and adoring fans something to cheer because, well, Stokes has asked him to.
There should be plenty of supporters to impress on day five, too, with Yorkshire following Nottinghamshire’s lead in offering free online tickets on a first-come firstserved basis.
They might be in a perilous financial state, but Yorkshire could do with all the goodwill they can summon right now and this is a smart move.
There is also unlikely to be enough time for a reproduction of the ugly brawl on the Western Terrace that occurred as a result of a beer snake of cups that was thrown on to unsuspecting spectators below.
If, as Yorkshire chairman Lord Patel claims, Headingley is to be a venue for everyone then this is one element that must be dealt with.