LONDON: Former captain Nasser Hussain heaped praise on Ben Stokes for his stunning 155 against Australia in the second Ashes Test at the Lord’s, which ended in a losing cause and stated that he hasn’t seen a more competitive cricketer than the current Test skipper.
In pursuit of chasing 371 on the fifth day of the Test, Stokes stood up when it mattered the most, playing a blazing knock of 155, laced with nine fours and as many sixes, to almost get England single-handedly over the line.
Stokes’ onslaught made many remember his epic knock of 135 not out at Headingley in 2019, but a repeat of that result didn’t happen as the all-rounder got out to Josh Hazlewood and England fell short by 43 runs to be 2-0 behind in the five-game series.
“I haven’t seen a more competitive England cricketer in my time than Stokes and it’s amazing too how often he gets the ball out of the middle of the bat in these kinds of situations when all the fielders are on the rope. If he doesn’t clear them, he gets it in the gaps.”
“For some people, the tactic Australia used of protecting the boundary, stop them scoring but as we saw in Leeds four years ago, he is one of those cricketers — because he’s so powerful, and his placement is so good — for whom it makes no difference,” wrote Hussain in his column for Daily Mail on Monday.
Hussain also wrote that Stokes is one of the best batters in chasing targets in Test cricket. “Ben Stokes showed his colleagues in the dressing room what playing for his England team is all about on Sunday — and there is no better cricketer in my era in that kind of situation.”
“Ask me who I would want to be at the crease from the past 30 years and it would be Stokes. He has done it so many times, whether it be the World Cup final, World Twenty20 final, or Headingley four years ago and it was remarkable on Sunday that he almost added another match-winning masterclass to his portfolio.”
“That was a truly incredible innings. When he sees a run chase, he is a sixth sense of working out when to be smart, when to defend, when to go at the bowlers, he’s expert at taking the right shot option.”
Hussain further claimed that the word greatness sits well with Stokes currently, just as it worked for legendary West Indies batter Sir Viv Richards. “This was a case of deja vu. Headingley 2019 was meant to be a one-off because, for me, that was the greatest innings I’ve seen by someone managing a situation. Yes, they eventually won the war but Stokes had been dominating the on-field battle on the fifth day.”
“Maybe Viv Richards is the only cricketer I have seen able to hit the ball into the gap or out of the ground as well as Stokes. Greatness is a word we use with Viv. It’s one fitting too for Stokes. Yesterday, he showed us this team is not only about a brand and style of cricket that entertains but one that plays a way that leads to winning.”
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