Stokes a winner of hearts & minds if not Ashes

WHEN Ben Stokes accidentally and bizarrely threw away a catch offered by the gloves of Steve Smith, many inside The Oval reckoned he had dropped England’s chances of a jubilant finale to a compelling Ashes series.

- ANDY DUNN

But as he left the field for lunch, the England skipper made a point of hurrying around as many teammates as possible, geeing them up, fist-bumping, motivating.

And, when play eventually resumed, England were like a team possessed, no doubt inspired by their captain.

Stokes has not won the 2023 Ashes but he has won the hearts and minds of any fan who began this summer with doubts about his leadership.

Inevitably, you can question the odd decision and, considering these two teams proved to be inseparable, that opening-day declaration in the first Test will always be a focal point.

But it was made in the spirit of adventure and aggression that has been England's trademark all summer.

It is and always has been Stokes's trademark. And it is hard to deny his mentality has rubbed off on his charges and the faith and loyalty he puts in them often pays dividends.

It did when Zak Crawley's second-innings knock of 73 cemented his place as England's top scorer of this Ashes series.