Cavalier Ben rides his luck to turn the mood
FOR about 10 minutes between lunch and tea on the third day of this impossibly hectic Test, Ben Stokes looked determined to take Brendon McCullum’s plea for positive cricket to a place it didn’t want to go. McCullum may yet grow tired of making the point this summer in his new role as England coach, but his idea of positivity is something of a broad church. It encompasses forthright defence and judicious attack, meaningful resilience as well as measured recklessness. Now, with a game to win, Stokes imposed his own interpretation.
Jonny Bairstow had just been bowled aiming a photogenic drive at the formidable Kyle Jamieson, and England — chasing 277 to start the new era with a rousing win over world champions New Zealand — were 69 for four.
Having waited 15 deliveries to get off the mark, Stokes took matters into his own hands and charged at the mediumpace of Colin de Grandhomme. But instead of clattering the ball through cover, he bottom-edged it on to his stumps.
Lord’s groaned. For the second time in the match, it seemed, Stokes — in his first Test as full-time captain — had been dismissed for a single. The scoreboard said 76 for five. Game over. Same old England…
Up in the pavilion, however, third umpire Paul Reiffel was about to spoil New Zealand’s fun. He had spotted a no-ball — marginal, but a transgression nonetheless.
Back marched Stokes, relieved at his near-miss but not, it turned out, chastened. Three balls later, he survived a tight run-out chance: had Will Young’s shy from mid-on struck, England’s captain would have been trudging off for the second time in a few minutes.
The chaos was not over. Two balls after that, now facing Tim Southee, Stokes advanced down the track again, this time collecting four runs with a fortuitous scythe over the slips. There’s living dangerously. Then there’s what Stokes was doing.
Perhaps he had absorbed the events of the previous hour or so and decided — as he did against Australia at Headingley three summers ago — to impose himself and damn the consequences.
After the openers put on 31, Alex Lees had inexplicably ushered Jamieson on to his off stump shortly before lunch. After it, Zak Crawley edged the same bowler to fourth slip. Then, Ollie Pope — trying to make sense of life as a Test No 3 — was bowled by Trent Boult.
A scoreline of 46 for three felt dispiritingly par, and the situation was soon made worse by the extravagance of Bairstow. Might Stokes’s blood have been pumping faster than normal as he walked out to clean up another fine mess?
What followed would not be the first time he had ridden his luck against New Zealand at Lord’s. In the World Cup final three years ago, Boult had caught him at longon, only to tread on the rope. Then came the deflection off Stokes’s bat, sending De Grandhomme off in vain pursuit towards the pavilion.
Things were changing again now. De Grandhomme hobbled to the dressing-room with a sore heel, and Stokes swung left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel’s second ball into the Grand Stand.
When Patel returned for a second over, Stokes again swept his second ball over the rope, then did the same to his fourth.
At the other end, Joe Root was ticking over unobtrusively, pulling Jamieson for four but otherwise content to cede centre stage.
When Stokes brought up his halfcentury by carving Jamieson for another boundary, Lord’s rose. Were England, after one win in 17 Tests, going to be taken over the line by their resident worker of miracles?
The answer came with deflating haste. As Stokes leaned back to uppercut Jamieson over the cordon, the ball followed him and kissed his glove to Tom Blundell. He was out for 54. But as Root, superb throughout, and the dogged Ben Foakes took England to 216 for five by stumps, and to within 61 of victory, it was Stokes who had changed the mood of the day.