England's red-ball captain Ben Stokes seems to have hit his straps as a bowler as he helped Durham make light work of Somerset in the 31st match of the ongoing County Championship Divison One at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street on Saturday, May 25.
Fit to bowl again, Stokes came hard at the Somerset batters and they were caught off-guard. The 32-year-old generated a lot of steam and landed the ball in the right areas to make life cumbersome for the opposition batters.
Significantly, he looked at ease and in full rhythm during his run-up and delivery stride which is a piece of good news for England's Test team and their head coach Brendon McCullum.
Stokes finished the game with figures of 8/77 and was the leading wicket-taker for Durham in the fixture. The Scott Borthwick-led side trounced Somerset by an innings and six runs by virtue of Stokes' magnificent spell.
Notably, Stokes had earlier pulled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 edition to focus on his bowling fitness. He also made himself unavailable for selection for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup to get a taste of red-ball cricket in the County Championship.
Stokes, the bowler, will be the key as England plan to look beyond their veteran seamer James Anderson.
Anderson, 41, has announced that the first Test of the English summer against the West Indies at Lord's in July will be his last international appearance for the Three Lions.
Anderson's retirement will create a massive void in the English seam attack and therefore it is paramount that Stokes retains his bowling form at the earliest. Anderson has represented England in 187 Test matches and bagged 700 wickets in the process.
He had made his Test debut for England against Zimbabwe at Lord's on May 22.
