Ben Stokes accepted his expectations England His team continues to “blow out of the water” after polishing his outstanding captaincy record with another resounding victory. New Zeland.
The Tourists took a 267 point win in the day/night match at Mount Maunganui; This was the 10th win in 11 games since Stokes took over the bat from Joe Root last summer.
James Anderson He put the finishing touches on a nice collective performance by claiming the last four bases while knocking down for Black Caps 126 in the final innings.
This was another victory for Stokes’ rapidly developing transformational leadership in partnership with the coach. Brendon McCullum. His harsh statement in the 59th episode of the match set in motion a chain of events that led him to win the bowling-friendly ‘twilight’ period twice, despite controlling the pace of the match and losing the draw.
Stokes is the joint fastest captain to hit double-digits in terms of Test wins and get there in 12 tries. His loss to the West Indies while deputizing for Root in 2020 is the only thing keeping him from receiving direct honors from Australian Lindsay Hassett, who last ruled his country in 1953.
Alone among the Brits, Michael Vaughan enjoys the previous best series with a 10 out of 16, but Stokes is more than happy to share the praise.
“Even though I’m the side’s captain, the team needs a lot of credit for that, even more than me,” he said.
“Can we just go out there and say, ‘Can we try this?’ I can say. They say yes but then they have to run everything. Not only do I have an incredible bowling attack to be captain, I also have a very talented and very brave batting line-up to follow. They have to take a lot of credit for the kind of track record I have as a captain.
“When I took over, I thought this would be a good opportunity for a slightly bigger change in the way the team thinks about playing the Tests. But expectations are running out, not just with the team’s performances, but also with the performances some people have continued to deliver in the last 10 to 11 months. .
While many of Stokes’ methods take a fresh spin on the age-old format, a few of his most trusted performers have been around for the best part of two decades.
Anderson and Stuart Broad were successful at Bay Oval, with the latter casting the match-defining spell under floodlights on the third night and his partner finishing the job the next day. During the week, they also beat Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne as the most prolific partnership in Test history, with a total of 1,009 scalps.
“I think having James Anderson and Stuart Broad on the side makes it a lot easier to be captain. You throw the ball to them and they’re gone,” he said.
“They set a great example not only for us in the locker room but for anyone who wants to have a long career in professional sport. It’s great to see them running with three lions on their chest and I don’t want to think too far ahead of when they might end their careers.”
One of the hallmarks of Britain’s resurgence was its insistence on focusing on the task at hand rather than looking too far ahead, a sharp shift from the previous regime. But Stokes realizes that tough decisions will likely come one after another.
It’s great to have so many top-notch players to choose from, it will likely end up with a choice nightmare at some point.
Ben Stokes
With things going so well and top performers like Jonny Bairstow, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes waiting to return to the Test setup after various injury issues, selection meetings are likely to become more sensitive. .
“It’s great to have so many top-notch players to choose from, it’s probably going to end up with a selection nightmare at some point,” Stokes said.
“But I would prefer it to have myself as captain and Baz as coach. That’s something we think about going forward, the number of top-notch players we have, not just here right now, but sitting at home recovering from injuries or increasing their workload.
“I don’t like to look too far ahead, but I think we’ll have a lot of players to choose from in Ashes.”