Derek Pringle assesses the on-field impact of England all-rounder Ben Stokes since his infamous court case last summer.
Was Ben Stokes’promotion up the batting order at Bristol just coincidence, or an attempt by England to help him exorcise the demons he unleashed there 18 months ago and from which he has demonstrably not recovered, at least on a cricket field?
He made 37 off 38 balls in an England win where minimal pressure was exerted on him after the top-order excelled, his innings ended by an unlucky run-out after a straight drive from Moeen Ali ricocheted off the bowler’s ankle onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end where Stokes was out of his ground. Although he’d looked in no trouble to that moment, it was not a reboot of the old Stokes either, the one who’d put South Africa to the sword at the Ageas Bowl two years previously with a 79-ball hundred.
Although swatting aside Pakistan at present in some high-scoring matches, you feel England will need that old Stokes back if they are to win the forthcoming World Cup, which you feel has at least six sides in it that could win it.
One of the dangers of reforming ultra aggressive sportsmen like him is that once you douse the fire in one area of their life, you douse it on the pitch as well, something England must be fearing given his lack of match-turning performances in all three formats of the game since that night club dust-up in 2017.
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