Just when James Anderson, a week away from his retirement from England picked up seven wickets in the first innings against Nottinghamshire, the captain of the national side Ben Stokes had a light moment with him. It was a few months ago when a tip on the shoulder from the head coach Brendon McCullum forced Jimmy to end his Test career.
The veteran, set to turn 42, in a few weeks to come, has bowling as good as he was towards the start of his career. In 187 red-ball games, he has recorded 700 wickets at an average of under 26 with 32 five-wicket and three ten-wicket hauls, including his best of 7/42.
With England already being thin on their pace bowling experience, the inquiry was whether it’s the right time to move from the legendary pacer, but Ben Stokes is quite clear in his planning for the upcoming Ashes tour in 2025-26.
‘No doubt about that. He is still incredible. I look at it this way, the group of bowlers we have now are at the worst they are going to be because they will only get better.’ The all-rounder said in an exclusive interview with ‘Telegraph Sport’. ‘Their ceiling is so high; the more game time we can give them we will find ourselves in a very strong position in Australia.’
‘The knee is the best it has been for a long time’- Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes does incredible work for England. Who would forget his heroics in the 2019 summer, whether it was during the ODI World Cup final at Lord’s or a month later in Leeds during the Ashes? He finds the pressure-cooker moments to squeeze up success all the time.
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For the start of his captaincy, it was about being fearless and attentive with their new approach of playing the red-ball game, while the second phase of his tenure will be around rebuilding and leaving a legacy. He knows how big a call was it to leave out Anderson, but he is crystal clear about the Australia trip.
‘I base my decisions on what I think is best for the team here and now but with this one there was Australia in mind. If you look at how much time there has been from our last series up until this one, there has been a lot of time to think where we want to take the team to the next level.’ Ben Stokes expressed in the same interview. ‘In sport if you’re not thinking about progression then you end up standing still.’
The decision to go away from Jonny Bairstow is easily justified, given how poor he has been in recent times in any format of the game, as the New Zealand-born is quite confident with the new debutant Jamie Smith.
‘If you look back at Jonny’s injury, it was a huge thing for him to go through.’ Ben Stokes reflected on this. ‘That was career-ending for a lot of people. We have gone in a new direction with Jamie Smith who, for the last two or three years, has been very consistent with run-scoring and we feel the way he plays and takes the game on is the perfect fit for us.’
The 33-year-old knows the recent times for England haven’t been that good in the longest format, having been destroyed in the India tour by 4-1, even after winning the first Hyderabad Test, and the fact that they are without a series win since Pakistan in 2022.
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Once he starts bowling and becomes at least a 15-17 overs bowler in a day, the balance of the side will always get better for England, and the records of 18 wickets in the three county games have been quite refreshing for both him and England.
‘The bowling is coming on really well. It is great to be able to sit here after two years not knowing how it was going to be on a day to day basis to now being as good as gold.’ Ben Stokes remarked during the chat. ‘The knee is the best it has been for a long time. There is always going to be something there. It doesn’t mean it is brand new, but it is a thousand times better than what it was.’
England will face West Indies for the three-match Test series, under the captaincy of Ben Stokes, with the first game beginning on July 10, at Lord’s.