Stokes the ‘ultimate competitor': Buttler

CAPTAIN Jos Buttler hailed Ben Stokes as the “ultimate competitor” after the all-rounder took England to T20 World Cup glory in Melbourne at the weekend.

Stokes' 52 not out led England to a five-wicket victory over Pakistan.

It comes after his match-winning heroics in the 2019 50-over World Cup final and the Headingley Ashes Test in the same year.

“He always stands up in the biggest moments,” said Buttler. “I'm so proud he's stood up and done it again.”

England restricted Pakistan to 137-8 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, before recovering from 45-3 to chase the target with an over to spare.

Stokes, whose place in the side was questioned at the beginning of the tournament, followed a match-winning innings in a must-win group game against Sri Lanka with his first T20 international half-century in the final.

“He is the ultimate competitor in anything he does,” Buttler told Test Match Special. “He has a lot of experience now and he can take a lot on his shoulders.”

For 31-year-old Stokes, this latest performance comes after a year in which he has taken over the captaincy and revived the fortunes of England's Test team.

When asked if Stokes should be considered England's greatest cricketer of all time, Buttler said: “He can be in the conversation, for sure.”

Stokes described the final victory as an “amazing night”.

“I'd rather be out there trying to affect the game than sat in the dugout saying, “I wonder what is going to happen”.”

Stokes, Buttler, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid remain from England's 2019 World Cupwinning squad. This latest triumph means they are the first men's team to hold both white-ball world titles at the same time.

“I am very proud,” said Stokes. “You don't get to win World Cups too often so to win two of them is pretty special.”

“It just shows where we are as a team. We all know the talent that we possess. We all have clarity from Jos and the management about what we want to do as a team and when you're clear what the team ethos is, it makes it a lot easier.”