Ben Stokes landed another blow in his power-struggle with the ECB on the field at Trent Bridge on day two.
If being back on the pitch was meant to be a relief from the frustrations of the last two weeks, the oppressive heat and flat surface have dampened that breathing room. For Stokes, however, as has been evident, the same rules as everyone else don’t apply.
Having charged around the field in record-breaking temperatures yesterday, he made the breakthrough late in the evening, prising apart an opening stand of 317. Back this morning, his battery of quicks having failed to see off nightwatcher Will O’Rourke, he once again shouldered the load. In the second of his eight consecutive overs, he drew an edge off Daryl Mitchell, letting out his trademark roar when UltraEdge confirmed the nick on the big screen.
His next over saw the end of O’Rourke, no bumpers to the tail this time, just line, length, and bloody mindedness. With Mitchell Santner out in his next over, after Stokes had shown him exactly what part of his glove his short ball had hit, the backbone of New Zealand’s innings had been cracked open.
Santner’s wicket was Stokes’ 250th in Test cricket, making him only the fourth all-rounder to reach that milestone having also scored 5,000 Test runs. If the melodrama of the last week wasn’t enough to prove how exceptional Stokes is, that stat, which he shares with Jacques Kallis, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev, underpins it.
At the Lord’s Test, there were murmurings over whether Stokes’ batting decline and demotion to No.7, amid persistent fitness concerns, were a symptom of the burden he has been carrying as his captaincy has progressed. Whether his broken body could support the rigors of even preparing to play Test cricket, and an imbalance in his identity as England’s odds-defying, counter-attacking hero. That argument doesn’t apply to his bowling, the old adage of all-rounders applying that when one discipline falls short, the other offers a chance to compensate. Of England pacers, only Gus Atkinson has taken more wickets at a lower average than Stokes since the beginning of 2024.
Nevertheless, there was an aura around Stokes at Lord’s that showed someone uncertain of his own relationship with the game. At ease with the players, and keen to get to the dressing room celebrations after the win, but worn down by the politics. That was furthered when the rumours of his retirement following the RexRooms incident surfaced in the immediate aftermath. Somewhere in the midst of the fallout, something changed.
When England stepped out at The Oval with three debutants, two players in their second Tests, no spinner and a specialist batter at No.7, the point Stokes has built his career on was proved once again. England simply cannot balance their XI without him. Further, as Joe Root’s tactics and game management resurfaced, his position at the heart of the team looked less replaceable than ever.
There were subtleties that underlined that on day two at Trent Bridge. When Shoaib Bashir dropped a difficult but catchable chance off Tom Blundell, Jofra Archer was clearly frustrated. When Bashir took a chance off his own bowling in the next over, it was Stokes who ensured Archer congratulated him. The two men have a firm friendship, and trust each other implicitly, enough to challenge each other on the field when one is unhappy with the other.
Whether it be the normality he has restored to the look of England’s XI, the natural authority he wields on the field, or the blunt force in finding wickets in the ball, the talking Stokes has done on the field in the last two days has been louder than what was or wasn’t said off it. It’s also been the perfect stage for Stokes to make his point – tough conditions where he can push his body to the maximum while the rest of his team struggle are his speciality.
Stokes won the power struggle off the field last week. He won public opinion after he was largely hung out to dry by an initial refusal to back his return to the captaincy. He also forced the public and the ECB to reckon with the possibility of an England Test team without him. Nevertheless, the issue feels far from closed.
Before the start of the summer, all three of Key, McCullum and Stokes emphasised the need to win in order to shake off the winter’s failings. At Lord’s, they came out on top on an unsatisfactory pitch, and got hammered at The Oval on a flat one. At Trent Bridge, it was only after Stokes’ intervention that an England victory appeared at all possible. Whether or not England go on to force a win in Nottingham, all of the same questions that existed before the first Test still exist, including what a post-Stokes England looks like and when that reality might arrive. But, by underpinning his off-field victories with an on-field statement, Stokes has emphatically shown his position as the most powerful man in the room. Whatever comes next will be on his terms.
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