"I promise you. We're going to play without any fear. We're going to make some memories. Whatever happens, you will be entertained." These were Ben Stokes' words ahead of Ashes. Yes, England have played some fearless cricket scoring at a run-rate in excess of 5 and 4 in the two innings of the Birmingham Test and have continued to bat in the same way in the ongoing Lord's Test as well.
But what has Ben Stokes done so far? His scores in three innings of the Ashes read 1 (8), 43 (66) and 17 (58). While his second innings effort in the previous Test can be considered decent, Stokes has mostly batted poorly. The sample size in the Ashes might seem very small but if we look deep, the England Test skipper has looked a pale shadow of himself.
Yes, ever since Brendon McCullum has taken over as head coach of Test team, England have batted aggressively but then their Test captain has been woefully out of form. Ever since the Bazball trend has started in English cricket in June 2022, Stokes has only hit two half-century and 1 century in 23 innings scoring only 722 runs at an average of 34.38.
Right through Pakistan and New Zealand tours where pitches were flat, he got starts but couldn't cross the 50-run mark. Perhaps, his 43-run knock in the second innings of last Test was Stokes' highest score since August 2022 when he last crossed the 50-run mark smashing 103 runs. Since then, in 14 innings, the 32-year-old hasn't been at his best and not adding much to England's total.
One can argue that an average of 34.38 in last 23 innings looks decent but Stokes is considered an all-rounder but hasn't been bowling much in recent times. With his recurring knee injury, Ben Stokes has bowled only 34 overs in last 7 Tests and hasn't bowled in 7 innings. There is certainly freedom in the England dressing room to play freely but something is bothering Stokes it seems as he is neither able to bat that way nor is he digging in and playing a long innings.
His bowling, on the other hand, remains the key and thankfully hasn't tapered off even though he has bowled very few overs But England needs Stokes - the batter - to lead from the front if they are to impose their Bazball on a long term basis.
