Ben Stokes could become an all time great: England coach
Oct 26, 2016 at 10:24 PM
England literally got out of jail at Chittagong, as a narrow victory over Bangladesh by 22 runs poses a lot of questions for the visitors. Their batting was in no shape to counter spin bowling and that alone should cause enough headaches within the English camp, as a five match test series against India looms. With the ball as well, it needed the heroics of Ben Stokes to rescue England and ensure that there was no humiliation in the first game.
Stokes played a decisive knock in England’s second innings that helped them post a decent target. He then followed it up with a display of great reverse swing bowling, which was just too good for the hosts. On the sidelines of England’s practice session, coach Trevor Bayliss was in full awe of Stokes and went on to add that the all-rounder could go on and become an all time great in the years to follow.
“It’s going to be easier to judge the longer he goes. The potential of the guy, he could be right up there with some of the all-time best all-rounders,” Bayliss said. “Only time will tell, but certainly, the strides he’s made here on the subcontinent playing spin have been top class. It wasn’t all that long ago we were wondering how he might go on spin-friendly wickets, but he’s a guy that works extremely hard in the nets.”
Backing Stokes to excel against the slower bowlers, Bayliss said, “I think it’s his defence to spin that has improved out of sight.” “We know that if he gets a bad ball, he can hit anything over the fence but you’ve got to be there to get that loose ball,” he said.
“He’s a guy that in the past probably hasn’t had a lot of footwork. Plays from the crease a little bit and backs his eye and hands.”But as we saw in the one-dayers and this Test, he defended really well off the front foot, got right forward and smothered the ball before it had a chance to spin and jump past the outside edge,” Bayliss added.