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Former England captain Nasser Hussain has lashed out at the scheduling of the Ashes series after watching Ben Stokes battle through pain to give the hosts a fighting chance of avoiding series defeat at Headingley.
Stokes smashed a stunning 80 to keep England in the game – but did so under extreme duress with a glute strain adding to his lingering knee issues.
Stokes isn’t the only one showing signs of physical and mental wear (witness Steve Smith’s reaction to a rather benign Jonny Bairstow sledge) in a gripping series where game three followed just three days on from the end of the thrilling and controversial second Test.
“There was a moment on Friday when I looked down at the action and wondered: why we are treating our international cricketers like pieces of meat?” Hussain wrote in the Daily Mail.
“It was a farcical scene. England’s last man Ollie Robinson played a pull shot and shuffled to the other end, struggling with a lingering back spasm, Ben Stokes was hobbling around in mid-pitch and Australia captain Pat Cummins had just about run himself into the ground.
“Just days after a physically and mentally draining match at Lord’s, and a fortnight after an emotional ringer of a first Ashes Test went into the last couple hours, we were watching them all slugging it out again and the madness of the schedule hit me.
“Simple changes would make all the difference. There are nine days between this game and the fourth Test in Manchester, so why only three days between this one and the second. Why not make it four and eight, and give the players an extra 24 hours of rest?
England captain Ben Stokes reacts after hit by a ball from Mitchell Starc . (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
“Why does the Test have to start on a Thursday, when starting on a Friday would retain weekend play. Look after your cricketers. Remember, it is only a year since Stokes, one of the biggest assets of the game, retired from one-day internationals citing an impossible workload.”
Hussain said it was clear Cummins could use a break, which he surely would if Australia wraps up the series in the next few days. The array of walking wounded was a worry.
“Should the pinnacle of Test cricket be like this? This is the series you should be peaking for. One with the best English and Australian cricketers going at each other full tilt,” wrote Hussain.
“Yes, injuries are a part of sport, but these guys shouldn’t be on the biggest stage so impaired. It wouldn’t happen in any other sport.
“You want to see people such as Stokes, Wood and Cummins for a long time, not retiring into an IPL sunset. And if we keep treating them like this, we risk that.”
Understandably Stokes took the flowers in the UK media, but there was a clear feeling he is being let down by others.
“The match is turning into this England side’s last stand. It’s Bazball’s Little Bighorn, and Stokes and his ragtag team are surrounded on the little patch of high ground, Australians in Baggy Green caps swarming all around,” wrote Andy Bull in the Guardian.
“Perhaps the single sorriest thing about watching England so far in this series has been that so few of Stokes’s senior teammates have stood with him. Jimmy Anderson managed three wickets at 75 runs each before bowing out of this match; Jonny Bairstow made 78 on the opening day but has scored 58 runs in four innings since, and dropped six catches; Ollie Pope didn’t even make it to 50 in his four innings; Ollie Robinson’s hardly topped 80mph all series and sloped off here with a back spasm.
“Even Joe Root’s returns have tailed off since he started the series with a century. At this point, Stokes’s only really reliable allies are Stuart Broad, who seems to be running largely off spite and adrenaline, and Mark Wood, who may well have spent himself in this one Test. He will need more from the rest of them if England are going to dig themselves out of this: even he has only so many miracles in him.”
Stuart Broad celebrates dismissing David Warner. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Oliver Holt, in the Daily Mail, compared Stokes to the fatally injured knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail.
“Ben Stokes, we were told during the tea interval on Friday afternoon, was suffering from a tight hamstring in his right leg,” Holt wrote.
“That was to add to the chronic injury to his left knee which he has been struggling with for some time. Not to mention the several occasions he was left bent over double in pain by deliveries from Mitchell Starc thudding into his midriff.
“Stokes laughed at those blows, grinning through gritted teeth as if he were some kind of comic book hero. Which, I suppose, he is. Twice in six days now, at Lord’s and Headingley, the England captain has played cricket more like a force of nature than a mere mortal.
“Here’s a scary thought: imagine how good he would be if his body wasn’t more banged up than Monty Python’s Black Knight? ‘Tis but a scratch,’ Stokes seemed to be saying to the Australians as he popped painkillers in the middle and then smote another mighty six over long-on.
“Stokes’ innings, once more, was borne out of adversity. It has started to be something of a habit, his team-mates looking to him to dig them out of the mire with a superhuman display even though he is walking wounded. Once again, Stokes did not disappoint.
“Stokes cries havoc louder than any man in Test cricket. While he is in this form, even if he is held together by duct tape and safety pins, England’s Ashes hopes are still alive.”
Oliver Brown in the Telegraph said “The aura of Ben Stokes is one of those invisible Ashes phenomena whose mysterious forces shape the course of a Test, and potentially a series…
“Toiling on one knee, he somehow backed up his staggering 155 at Lord’s in a losing cause with another totemic performance eight days later. Cramping, hobbling, summoning zero flexibility from his right leg, he still flayed the Australian attack to all corners to tip the balance of the contest.
“You do shudder to think how tamely England might have surrendered this Ashes quest without Stokes. But hypotheticals are for another day. For now, they can be supremely grateful that their captain, even at 50 per cent fitness, manages to eclipse them all. With a blend of patience and awesome power, Stokes gives his team-mates a reason to keep the faith, underscoring his status as a true colossus among cricketers.”
Steve James, in the Times, added: “It is little wonder that Stokes is limping. Carrying one’s team is an onerous task, especially with an already wonky knee. Other injuries often occur to those protecting some part of their body, and it does raise the question of how much longer Stokes can continue in this condition. It is both uplifting to witness his bravery, but at the same time painful to see his suffering.
“Stokes is rising to the challenges presented, whereas too many other England batsmen are appearing to retreat from them: the antithesis of the head coach Brendon McCullum’s constant call to run towards the danger.”
James meanwhile suggested that Australia are doing better than any team has before in taming the Bazball beast.
“Is Bazball really achievable against an attack as potent as Australia’s?” he questioned.
“Among the cynics it was a running joke after last summer that every forthcoming series was about to sound the death knell for this enlightened approach, only for almost every challenge to be met and conquered.
“But Steve Smith was speaking for many when he observed: “I said it initially when Bazball started that I’m intrigued to see how it goes against our bowlers. I’ve said that all along. They’ve obviously done well against some other attacks, but they haven’t come up against us yet.”
“No, they hadn’t, and are there now increasing signs that this England batting unit do not truly believe they can play Bazball against this mighty Australian side? The short-ball barrages have added another dimension to the problems, as evidenced by the dismissals of Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes here.
“It is time for the Bazball clarity to return. It is time for the positive option to be foremost in every batsman’s mind. It is time for Bairstow to find those “Jonny eyes” that told his team-mates that something was up at Trent Bridge last year. And it is also time for Stokes to receive some much needed help.
“Every team that come up against England under Ben Stokes have had their challenges dealing with the radical way their opponents play. How do you set fields to batsmen when they flick the switch and go to all-out attack? While his every move has not been faultless, it is fair to say that Pat Cummins has fared better than any captain so far.”
Stokes’ innings was not the only sign that England could yet rescue this game and the series.
Steve Smith’s poor dismissal to Moeen Ali was met with a cheeky send off from Bairstow and the Australian’s angry response seemed disproportionate.
“Steve Smith was riled by the gentlest of send-offs from Jonny Bairstow as England fought their way back into the third Ashes Test once more,” wrote Will Macpherson in the Telegraph.
“Smith failed for the second time in his 100th Test, tamely plopping Moeen Ali to midwicket, shortly after Marnus Labuschagne had also given his wicket away to Moeen.
“As Ben Duckett caught Smith, Bairstow said “see ya later, Smudge”. A furious Smith turned round and said “what was that mate? Hey!”. Bairstow confirmed exactly what he had said, adding “I said ‘cheers, see ya later!”. Smith walked off, muttering.
“While this is unlikely to be recorded in the pantheon of great Ashes sledges or bust-ups, it is a window into the simmering tension between the teams and the delicate state of the series.”