The more responsibility that is piled upon Ben Stokes’s shoulders, the better he plays. Fortunately for English cricket the management have long since come to this conclusion and the Durham all-rounder is repaying their faith with increasing regularity.
On Saturday, he was in barnstorming form but in a curiously clinical way. He finished with four cheap wickets, which would be the envy of any paceman on this surface. Then with England’s innings sinking in quicksand he composed a crucial 85 from 151 balls to restore his side’s ascendancy in this captivating game. Stokes has played innings with many more pyrotechnics for England, but seldom has his contribution been so vital to the balance of the match.
The old view about Stokes, the batsman, has always been that he is better starting against pace when he can trust his instincts rather than be obliged to plot a course of progress against spinners. This may explain Stokes’ own assessment of his innings. “That’s probably the toughest conditions I’ve had so far in international cricket,” he said. “Especially going in with all those men around the bat and with the ball spinning as much as it was.
“That was my most mature performance with the bat. I wanted to make sure that if I got out it was to a good ball. I didn’t want to give my wicket away.”
His ally, not for the first time, was Jonny Bairstow, who has now scored more Test runs in a calendar year than any other wicketkeeper. There appears to be no arcane explanation of why they gel so well. “After batting so much together we know we’re pretty chilled characters out in the middle,” Stokes said. “Not much needs to be said really. Touch gloves, keep going, keep building.” Well, there is great virtue in not overcomplicating the game.
Stokes was lbw to Shakib al Hasan and he became one of the few players in this match not to demand a review upon seeing the umpire’s raised finger. “To be honest I felt I was pretty salmon,” he said. Like a few of the press corps, your correspondent nodded knowingly without having a clue what he was talking about. Further reconnaissance resulted in the following word progression “salmon-trout-out”. But I expect you knew that already. The next bit was more comprehensible and engagingly candid.
“Woakesy said ‘you might as well use it’ [the review] but unless I’m completely convinced it’s not going to hit the stumps then I’ll walk off. He said ‘just do it’ but by then time was up.”
In any case there would have been no reprieve for Stokes. It transpired he had been trying to sweep a straight ball. But let’s not carp. His innings was brill: he had batted like a bream (have I got the hang of this yet?).