Stokes and Lawrence give me hope that England can get things right

THAT England were in with a sniff of winning the Second Test in Barbados on the deadest of pitches was down to the impetus provided by two of their batters: Dan Lawrence and Ben Stokes, who was back to his best with bat and ball.

Our treatment of Stokes in the last few years has confused me. We spend decades looking for the new Ian Botham, then years searching for the new Andrew Flintoff. Stokes came along and so many people rush to push his bowling to one side and make him a batter. People always talk about what he shouldn’t be doing. The focus should be on what he can be: the heartbeat of a team in all facets.

His batting and bowling are interlinked. Stokes is not the best batter in the world. He will never be a clinical run-scorer like Joe Root or Viral Kohli. He might play better innings than them, but he will never consistently be a better batter. And he isn’t the best bowler in the world, but he has plenty of skill and can be used as the game requires.