Former England Cricketer David Llyod feels that England test skipper Ben Stokes is not looking fully fit to bowl against Australia in the much anticipated Ashes Series and urges him to reinvent himself as an off-spin bowler for the team in coming years stating the example of Ian Botham and Ashley Giles.
The England skipper bowled only three overs for his team on the 1st day of the second Ashes series, as he could not make an impact for the team with his bowling. The England Skipper has been battling with a left knee injury that has forced him to bowl very less compared to the previous test series.
In his column for Daily Mail, David Llyod feels that the England bowling attack is more one-dimensional which helps the Australian batter to adapt quickly in any conditions, and feels that Ben Stokes is not in full rhythm to bowl at the moment and reckons that he can try to reinvent himself as an off-spinner in the side, as many former cricketers have done it in the past.
“Late in the day, I had a quiet moment and wondered if I was old fashioned and whether the game was passing me by because England was crying out for a spinner. They had no sense of deception or guile with four right-arm quicks. It was all very predictable and one-dimensional.”
“It’s clear that Ben Stokes isn’t fully fit to bowl and I wonder if he can reinvent himself as an off-spinner. Eddie Hemmings did it. Mike Watkinson did it. Ashley Giles did it. And Ian Botham took wickets bowling off-spin. Stokes has a basic action and it wouldn’t put any strain on his front knee”. David Llyod said
Australia dominated the England bowlers on the Day 1 of the second test, with English bowlers failing to capitalize on the conditions to their favor, as they could not execute the plans on the Lord’s wicket in the overcast conditions.
All Very Underwhelming With A Lot Of Stopping And Starting…-David Llyod
David Llyod believes that England bowlers have failed to capitalize on the conditions in the Lord’s as the game had a few stoppages due to the rain, with the crowd being silent in the morning session of the day due to the lot of stopping and starting due to the bad weather and added that English team missed the opportunity to run through the Australia batters on Day one.
“After all the queues, what a strange and subdued morning session it was. The crowd was quiet until the stroke of lunch and it was a far cry from everything we witnessed at Edgbaston. All very underwhelming with a lot of stopping and starting and in the end, the session just passed England by and set the tone for the rest of the day”. David Llyod added
Australian team is well on the top after the end of the Day 1 play, as the Baggy Greens are 339-5 at the end of the day’s play. Steve Smith putting in a sensible performance to remain unbeaten on 85* alongside Alex Carey, as they will look to extend the lead on Day 2.