Eoin Morgan says Ben Stokes played "one of the great Test match innings" after striking 155 from 214 balls against Australia at Lord's; head coach Brendon McCullum says his side "lucky to have" Stokes - watch third Test from 10am, Thursday, Sky Sports Cricket
Monday 3 July 2023 07:41, UK
The script looked written.
It looked like it was going to be Headingley 2019 all over again. It looked like Ben Stokes was going to pull off an Ashes heist against an increasingly ragged Australia once more.
It looked that way but did not end up that way.
Stokes' unbeaten 135 saw England to a successful chase of 359 at Leeds four years ago but his 155 at Lord's on Sunday came in defeat, with the home side slipping to 327 all out in a chase of 371 once their influential skipper was seventh out with the score on 301.
But for so long Stokes gave England hope.
His innings had so many shades of Headingley: Slow start before accelerating later on. Smacking top-quality bowlers for six but also manipulating them for singles. A dropped catch - Marcus Harris four years previously, Steve Smith this time around at Lord's.
It was an innings that left the Sky Sports Cricket pundits purring…
"Stokes was truly phenomenal, a true captain's innings. There were all these sixes but smart play in-between where there were balls he would leave, or hit into the off-side and wait for his chance.
"He knew where there was more chance of a ball going for six. It was great management of an innings. It was brilliant batsmanship as well as brutal shots."
"It was one the great Ashes innings, great Test match innings and he keeps getting better in the biggest games. The more he demands of himself the better he gets as a player.
"The great players of any generation recognise situations when they can take the game away from you or when they need to take the sting out of a game.
"His innings ebbed and flowed at his pace. He worked his way up and down the gears and picked and chose when he wanted to do it.
"He showed unbelievable skill, almost predicting what Australia were going to bowl, how he was going to manipulate it, how often he kept the strike."
"Cometh the hour, cometh the man again for Stokes. He was almost forced to play that way when [Stuart] Broad came in but he did it. He scored another amazing Test match century.
"Most of the match-winning players in Tests are in the top-order. Stokes is in a 'Mr Fix It' role at times and a match-winning role at other times. That is the great skill of the man.
"He averages 36 [with the bat] but it is littered with things that are ultra-special. We quite often judge players on just numbers but we have to start looking at other ways to judge players."
"He is a truly remarkable cricketer. I was on the pitch on [Sunday] morning and said I could not think of any English batter, in this generation or my generation, that I would rather have in the middle than him.
"To do it at Headingley, to do it in a World Cup final, to do it in a T20 World Cup final, to nearly do it a fourth time. You could see in Australia's eyes, 'is this really happening to us again'. He is an amazing cricketer, truly amazing.
"He doesn't swing from the backside. He was ruthless and played the situation."
"Stokesy is a freak of a player, makes things happen and writes his own scripts, but I look at him more as our captain, our leader.
"The conviction he has on the journey we want to go on, his faith in the players, the ability to get the best out of them, and the ways he carries himself with his morals, we are so lucky to have him."
Watch the third Ashes Test, from Headingley, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Thursday. The first ball is at 11am.
