Stokes is simply urnstoppable
It’s Big Ben’s time as five-wicket haul puts England on the brink
Ben STOKES has shown what a brilliant batsman he can be this season and now, thrillingly, he has demonstrated that his bowling is also of the very highest class as he lifted england last night to the brink of a famous Ashes triumph.
Stokes was simply superb in claiming five crucial Australian scalps on a tougher day for england that ended, agonisingly, with just three more wickets standing between them and a glorious, seriesclinching 3-1 lead.
Australia will resume today at 241 for seven, still needing another 90 runs to avoid an innings defeat that would represent a stunning Ashes turnaround f or a n england s i de who were whitewashed just 18 months ago.
And, just as Stuart Broad stepped up heroically to make Ashes history with eight first-innings wickets, this time Stokes took centre stage to compensate for the absence of Jimmy Anderson with his best- ever bowling performance for england.
What a talent this young man of Durham — via Christchurch and Cumbria — is and what a career he has ahead of him as long as he can avoid the pitfalls, many of them self-inflicted, that have punctuated his highly promising career.
Just as Australia at last looked like putting up some resistance, after their pitiful first- day display, up popped Stokes, who had a bowling average before this Test of close to a hundred for the series, to show his class.
It was never going to be as easy second time round, of course, and england were forced to endure their share of frustration as Australia proved a tougher nut to crack than on that magical first day.
Where every chance was taken as Australia were demolished for 60, the ball passed the bat regularly on the second day and, when it did take the edge, england’s fielders found themselves grasping too anxiously to claim the urn.
Above al l , england i nexcusably squandered two wickets through no-balls when both Mark Wood and Steven Finn were found to have overstepped after se e mi ng l y ma ki n g i mpo rt an t breakthroughs.
There can be no sympathy for Wood, who had Chris Rogers ‘caught’ at third slip, nor Finn, who also saw his ‘dismissal’ of Peter nevill ruled out by technology after the on-field umpires had absolved themselves of all responsibility.
This is a highly unsatisfactory situation. Modern Test umpires are clearly not looking down at the bowler’s front foot, as they have done through the ages, and instead are just waiting for replays whenever a wicket is taken.
If it were not for an inspired spell from Stokes, helped by another big dollop of Australian incompetence, england would have been twitching going into the third day rather than poised for their moment of glory
This was undoubtedly the best that Stokes has produced with the ball for england, another example of a burgeoning all-round talent who looks destined to be a real star of english and world cricket for some considerable time.
Here, Stokes took three wickets in 13 balls in a helter- skelter spell before tea that was more i n keeping with the madcap speed of the first day at Tr en t Bridge.
And, when Stokes then showed his ability as a catcher to send back a fourth Australian in Steve Smith on the brink of the interval, english hopes were raised of a two- day finish to complete the most high-speed of Ashes successes.
Australia will again look at their woeful and inexplicable inability to cope with the moving ball and their costly habit of pushing, prodding and even driving at balls outside the off stump that they could easily leave alone.
Rogers and David Warner had ridden their luck to compile an opening stand of 113 before Stokes, bowling 10 overs in succession from the Radcliffe Road end, made his first intervention.
Rogers was relatively blameless in edging to Joe Root but Warner got out to an identical loose pull that caused his demise at edgbaston and Smith aimed an expansive drive at Broad to find a short point in Stokes just placed there.
Shane Warne could barely contain his anger in the commentary box at the soft manner of both dismissals by senior players who should know better. In between, Shaun Marsh had completed a miserable Test after replacing his little brother Mitch by also falling to the irresistible combination of the bowling of Stokes and the catching of Root.
Warne, funnily enough, was less critical of Michael Clarke when the Australian captain poked at Wood and edged to Ian Bell, via some juggling from Cook, and trudged off to an uncertain future at the helm of his side.
It was a sad sight to see a cricketer who has touched greatness struggling so badly but the bottom line is that Clarke’s decline as a batsman at the highest level looks terminal. The end of the Ashes looks sure to signal the end of his reign, possibly as soon as today if he falls on his sword in the moment of defeat.
When Stokes dismissed nevill lbw, england were again in a position to push for victory under the Trent Bridge lights.
england’s attack had started to flag as they staggered towards the finish line, but there was Stokes again to claim his fifth wicket, that of Mitchell Johnson with the chance taken this time by Cook.
Just as it looked as though the second day might go into an extra half-hour the umpires decided that the light had become too bad even with artificial help and Australia lived to fight another day.
earlier, Mitchell Starc had taken six wickets as england added another 117 runs in 20.2 overs before Cook made the most unexpected of declarations.
nobody bel ie v e d t he england captain would call his team in just 20 minutes before lunch with nine wickets down but the move was both attacking and enterprising.
It summed up the change in Cook’s leadership this year and even though it did not quite bring a wicket in the three overs before lunch, it set the tone for another display of english domination. now england will make one last push to claim an Ashes victory that will surely be theirs early today. With the likes of Stokes and Root at their core, this is a team destined for a big future.