2 months ago
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Ben Stokes is confident his batting form will pick up with more time at the crease as England prepare for a crucial second Test against India in Birmingham.
Stokes has been flourishing with the ball since undergoing hamstring surgery in December, taking eight wickets at 20 in the first two Tests of the summer against Zimbabwe and India. But it is two years since he last scored a Test hundred, and he has averaged just 27 with the bat since the start of 2024.
The sight of Andrew Flintoff helping out at England's training session at Edgbaston – the scene of one of his finest performances, against Australia in 2005 – was a timely reminder that world-class all-rounders come along once a generation. And England do not want one of Stokes's two suits – three, if you include the captaincy – to suffer even while the other suit thrives.
Stokes, who has batted only three times in all cricket since the end of the Test series in New Zealand before Christmas, said: 'In the fourth innings at Headingley, because we knew what needed to be done, I actually felt good out in the middle. I was just looking up at the scoreboard, thinking: "Let's get these runs down." Then naturally, just let other things take over.
'I guess the more time you spend out in the middle in game situations, the more natural things will start to come.'
Asked how he felt he was balancing his all-round duties, he replied: 'The bowling's going well. I structure my training around it. I get all my bowling done, because I want to be bowling when I'm at my least tired on the training day. I do my batting after that.'
Ben Stokes has given his verdict on his batting form ahead of the second Test against India
Stokes averages 27 with the bat since the start of 2024 but hopes that will improve with time in the middle
He has, though, flourished with the ball since undergoing hamstring surgery and shone in the first Test
India, meanwhile, continued to debate whether or not to rest star bowler Jasprit Bumrah, after pledging to play him in only three of the series' five Tests. But Stokes retained a regal detachment on the subject.
'That's India's problem to deal with,' he said, at a venue where the Indians have lost seven and drawn one of their eight Tests. 'I'm captain of England. India can decide what they want to do.'
