At the end of Day 2, England are playing the catch-up game after Australia declared at 442-7 with an unbeaten 126 from Shaun Marsh.
The dropped catch Marsh on 102 when James Vince knocked Alastair Cook when he almost had the catch says plenty for how the tour has been for England. So close yet so far.
It’s really hard to fault England. They were bowling well but perhaps the only criticism was they needed more patience. But it was not a bad bowling performance. Stuart Broad was terrific for his 2-fer and so was James Anderson but both were unlucky. So many plays and misses, so many squaring ups, so many edges landing short… it could have been so different on another day.
Craig Overton did decently to pick up three on debut while snaring the important wicket of Steve Smith. Moeen Ali, with a finger injury, continues to worry.
That’s where a guy like Ben Stokes could make a difference. Not only he has got the knack of providing crucial breakthroughs but he can also take the game away from opposition sides with his breathtaking batting and electric fielding.
As a pure batsman, he can walk into any playing XI, just ask South African. The scares he left on their attack during his knock of 258 against the Proteas were immense.
In the first Test against India in 2016-17, Stokes again combined with Moeen Ali and Alastair Cook to post a huge total. His hundred at the WACA in 2013-14 raised a few alarm bells in the Australian camp – they knew they had witnessed something special.
Whether it’s home or away, Ben Stokes has been equally good in all facets of the game. He has scored centuries in England, South Africa, India and Australia.
With the ball, he has five-wicket hauls in Australia, India and England.
His value could be judged from the fact that his 316 runs and 12 wickets in the IPL for Rising Pune Supergiants took them to the final after being decimated in the 2016 season.
His comeback to cricket recently for Canterbury has been average by his standard, scoring two runs of seven balls and going wicketless for 49 runs in nine overs. But surely expect the buzz, atmosphere of the Ashes to bring that extra class out of a player like Stokes. That’s what has made him the MVP of the team.
In a tough tour like Ashes and given how close it is getting to be, a run-out, a crucial wicket or even converting half chances could make or break the opposition. Just look to the 2015 Ashes match at Nottingham when Stokes took a diving catch to remove Adam Voges which started a collapse, with Australia going down to 60 all out. His 6/36 in second innings helped England win the series and regain the Ashes.
Genuine all-rounders are very few and far between in today’s era – the days of Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham are long gone.
In today’s generation, barring Shakib Al-Hasan, Ben Stokes is the only one of this rare breed. An all-rounder is like a bitcoin in today’s generation – its stock goes higher with each passing day.
A good team can become an excellent team with the balance an all-rounder adds to the line-up. Given the performance of England so far, they will need to step up their game if they want to even dream of retaining the Ashes.
Ruaridh
Guest
Not really. He's lived in England since he was a kid. Played for them at jnr levels and has a thick geordie accent.
DavSA
Guest
I agree there Chris. If England are that dependent on 1 player then there is something wrong with the system. Englands current woes are quite simple and little to do with no Stokes. 1. Moeen Ali so often in the recent past a mainstay seems to have left his cricket in England. Nathan Lyon has thoroughly outplayed him.It also looks like they played him in Adelaide when still carrying an injury. 2. Englands aging quicks are far less effective in Australian conditions . There also seems to be no great succession plan. Overton looks useful but that's all. 3.Dawid Malan is not a test batsman . was played against SA in a winning series but dropped after a game. Now thrown into the deep end in an Ashes series. 4. Cook is vulnerable against out and out pace. 5. In a must win game at Adelaide England bowl first. Who made that decision. Why is the coach defending the captain as if he alone made the call when we all know that those calls are made off field prior to the toss.I know the game is still on but how can England come back ? I do not see it. 6. England keep shooting themselves in the foot publicly . I know the Aussie press are merciless looking for stories and issues but England by now should know that.
Cantab
Guest
No i'm not, and I still don't think he would on one skill set alone.
Mike Dugg
Guest
Are you kidding? He'd be the Aussie number 6 for sure and would walk into the kiwi side easily
Mike Dugg
Guest
His numbers are like that because stokes had a poor start to his test career. The couple of years he's averaged over 40 with the bat and 30 with the ball. He unlike Watson shows up in tough situations. It's a hugely stupid thing on his part to have bashed that guy. Stokes would be doing a fine job for England if he was playing. Already scored a century against Australia and had 2 5 fors as well with the ball
Cantab
Guest
He will make the team marginally better, but EOD he is just another bits and pieces all-rounder who couldn’t make Eng, Aus or NZ team based on his batting or bowling alone.
Jake
Guest
No, he's the evolutionary missing link
AGordon
Guest
Sorry Saurabh, I switched off when I read your third paragraph. "It is really hard to fault England. They were bowling well.....". Maybe you and I were watching two different games but Anderson and Broad bowled really poorly to the openers and never looked like getting a wicket till Warner ran out Bancroft. Another commentator mentioned that Warner did not have to play at 40% of the deliveries he faced. That's bad bowling by any measure. The side then resorted to its only tactic, bowling 2 feet outside off stump with a 7 - 2 offside field. That's not only poor bowling, it's bad captaincy. Your rhetorical question about Stokes ignores the games where he has made few or no runs and picked up few or no wickets. In any even, the England side could not afford to have him in the team with the charges hanging over his head because this would seriously affect a team already struggling psychologically. Better for them to focus on the chosen side and leave Stokes to his own fate.
George
Guest
Not sure. A lot's made of Watson's decent average but he bowled so seldom that he only took 75 wickets in his whole Test career and was never a crucial part of the attack.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I have to agree with another piece I read this morning talking about some points for England in this Ashes, where one of them was to just forget about Stokes, simply rule him out and then move on without the constant question marks hanging over that. In reality, he should be charged for that incident, and if he is, instead of heading over to Australia from NZ, he'll likely be heading straight back to England to face those charges. I'm sure he'll have a good lawyer that will get a decent deal for him involving no prison time, but face the charges he certainly must do. And if, somehow, the Prosecutors aren't in a mood to charge a major English sporting personality, his actions must still surely warrant a very significant cricketing suspension that rules him out of the whole Ashes series. So for England to be able to get some focus in this series, they really need to just rule out Stokes and move on. As someone else pointed out in a comment here on another article. Stokes test averages with bat and ball are almost exactly identical to Shane Watson. Yet if Watson was out of the test team for some reason I can't imagine people talking about Australia desperately needing him like they talk about Stokes.
Steele
Guest
I think Australia have shown the value of not having an an all rounder at six and just picking a pure batsmen. We are finally getting some runs at six! And anyway, shouldn’t Stokes be playing for New Zealand? He’s a bloody Kiwi!!