by Ben Stokes played his 100th Test in Rajkot last week, an event that was preceded by breathless profiles, articles that portrayed him almost as a superman, playing his own game, doing his own dance. He was described as an innovator, a visionary and a masterful captain. Well, sport has a way of putting you in your place and India certainly did that.
I don’t want to minimize Stokes’ achievements. Visiting Lord’s and the Oval during the Ashes series last summer I did a few questions and answers with fans over lunch. There is no doubt that the public was in awe of his team. As captain, he inherited a group that was playing poorly and losing. He took the pressure off them, galvanized them and gave them a method they are willing to use.
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But I’m left wondering, is that his success? Does a team manage to entertain the crowd whether they win, lose or draw? Or is it achieving success: winning matches, winning leagues, competing for the World Test Championship? I don’t believe for a moment that Stokes thinks it’s crash, bang, bang. The evidence of that is his superb performances in the final of the 2019 World Cup, when he adapted better than anyone to a slow wicket, and the way he took his magnificent century against Australia at Headingley a few a week later.
He is a thoughtful cricketer and his 100th Test will be a breakthrough. As a captain he feels that he has achieved half his mission. He has changed the mindset around him, but there is still work to be done on their mindset.
Entering the third day with an overnight score of 207 for two after India’s first innings of 445 with Ravichandran Ashwin at least temporarily out of the game due to a family emergency, a ruthless team would have gone under remove the deficit, keep India. in the field, wear down their bowlers and put themselves in an advantageous position. This England side fell apart.
As I watched, I thought of the great football teams and how they refuse to give up, winning first the physical battle and then games. I remembered Tiger Woods at his best, knowing he had to be tactical and game-savvy in closing out tournaments, and the mental strength that brought Novak Djokovic to 24 Grand Slam titles. The great athletes and teams share some qualities that are still missing from England.
The problem is, they don’t always seem to understand that. They are busy playing their game, being entertainers, on and off the field. Sometimes, their press conferences are like listening to Muhammad Ali talking trash, things like Ben Duckett saying “they can have as much as they want and we’re going to get them”. Ali was a brilliant entertainer but he was known as the Big Bishop and, as good as his debut was, Duckett was not.
Does he reflect on that moment? Does Joe Root contemplate his dismissal in the first place, backing the ball straight to slip? Because if entertainment is the only goal, that is the brand entirely and they don’t need to put themselves through any criticism, any learning, any honesty.
Sometimes I wonder if there is something fundamentally unreal about the cricketers we are producing. Many county academies are pushing power hitting. They want young players to have a strike rate of more than 100 even when the state of the pitch and the games don’t necessarily help that. Young players who have not yet improved their skills are told not to worry, have fun, go for it. Where are tomorrow’s try scorers and how are they being developed?
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I read about Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored his second double century of the series in Rajkot, and his unusual childhood and upbringing – leaving home at 11, living in a tent for two years, selling street food. You can’t compare that to their English equivalents.– Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley are top players whose childhoods were spent at Cranleigh and Tonbridge private schools.
England lost the third Test by 434 runs and Stokes immediately welcomed the great opportunity his side now have to win the series 3-2. You wouldn’t expect him to say anything different. While it is important to learn from mistakes, there is no benefit in dwelling on victory. When they were 2-0 down in the Ashes he seemed to sharpen their approach and improve their focus. Here we are again, but this time 2-1 down and away conditions.
They have extremely talented players and Duckett, Pope and Crawley have made huge strides on this tour. But some senior members of the squad are struggling badly – Jonny Bairstow averages 17, Root 12.83, Ben Foakes is yet to win an innings and Stokes will be looking for improvement from himself. Perhaps the careless nature that helped them find themselves in this position would help them recover from it. If there was one team that has a chance to field a terrible result and start over it’s this one.
England are one down with two to play, they have just had a humiliating defeat and they know on paper that the bowling attacks are a complete disaster. They have played a lot of fun cricket, but sometimes they have to play smart cricket, the kind that Stokes in his best days has shown he is so capable of. It will take all of his inspirational leadership to hold this group together and convince them to see the remaining two games as real opportunities.
He has already had a great career and to play 100 Tests and create a fun side is a great achievement. As he begins his second century, he needs to focus on creating a winning one.
