Ben Stokes: Power of Rory and touch of Seve

Only Brian Lara could bring a Test attack to its knees like the England allrounder did against South Africa at Newlands, argues SIMON HUGHES

On the England allrounder's 29th birthday, we've dug into our archives...

Around 10,000 England supporters flew in to Cape Town for the New Year Test. They were doubly rewarded. Not only did they benefit from the rand being at an all-time low against the pound enabling them to live it up for a fortnight, but also they witnessed one of the most phenomenal innings ever played by an Englishman. Ben Stokes’ 258 was a sustained level of destruction no Test bowling attack has ever suffered before.

His onslaught began in late afternoon on the first day, and continued unabated until mid-afternoon on the second when he was finally dismissed, having struck 30 fours and an English record 11 sixes. That is 186 in boundaries. Only Brian Lara has similarly managed to bring a Test attack to its knees, and not with the same level of brutality. Suddenly England are a feared batting order again.      

Coming in on a hat-trick, after the dismissal of Nick Compton and James Taylor either side of tea, Stokes started quietly, he defended solidly, left judiciously and pushed a couple of runs neatly through midwicket. He negotiated an awkward over from Morne Morkel and had hit only one four in his first 24 balls, until the offspinner Dane Piedt served up a few cafeteria deliveries. Stokes helped himself.

^{Stokes celebrates reaching three figures}

But it was only when a tired Chris Morris took the second new ball that Stokes upped the ante. Morris’ first ball was imperiously thumped back past with an immaculately straight bat, the second sliced over third slip to bring up his fifty, the fourth rifled through cover, the fifth uppercut over gully. He added some pulls and cuts as Morris went shorter in a desperate attempt to recover his threat. Thirty-two runs were thrashed from the first three overs with the new cherry, and Stokes finished the day on 74.

After beginning the second day with two flourishing cover drives in the first over from Morkel, Stokes was unstoppable. Within three overs he had a hundred (from 105 balls). In the next 58 deliveries he struck 10 fours and seven sixes to race to his double-hundred, dishing out the harshest treatment to Piedt. It was an astonishing assault that brought a remarkable 196 runs in the session, as Jonny Bairstow stood by and gave Stokes his head. Some of his sixes went clean out of the ground. Table Mountain has never been more threatened. 

Stokes has a rare mix of brute strength and lightning-fast hands. Most of the best players have one or the other, rarely both. One of the most noticeable aspects of his method in this innings was how resolutely still he stands at the crease – where most others are on the move with their ‘trigger’ movements – bat aloft like a baseballer. From there he mixes the orthodox with the outlandish. Able to play savage slashes and wristy reverse sweeps as effectively as the commanding straight drive or the crunching pull, he has genuine 360-degree range, as his Newlands wagon wheel demonstrated.

His power and range is unique as I realised from watching him in the nets last summer. Taller and more muscular than he looks from a distance, he was facing a succession of fast yorkers delivered by a coach to practise his striking at the end of a one-day innings. He was adopting a slightly open stance, front foot a touch outside leg to give himself room to swing his arms.

^{A sun-soaked Newlands where Ben Stokes went ballistic} 

He was bringing the bat down in a semi-circular motion, hitting slightly across the ball like a fade in golf, and slicing it in an arc between the feeder and an imaginary extra cover position. He was striking the ball with incredible force and many of his hits would have easily carried for six if the nets had not impeded their progress. The wrists ‘broke’ towards the end of the shot, the bat finishing wrapped round his back.

He unleashed a number of shots like this at Newlands, perhaps the most memorable a carve over wide long-off to a ball from Piedt that he was nowhere near the pitch of. His brilliant eye and supple, fluid wrists sent the ball into the trees. He has the exceptional ability to hit a straightish ball anywhere between long-off and deep cover with subtle adjustment of his hands and direction of the blade. The same skill top golfers exhibit when they bend the ball around hazards. He has the power of Rory McIllroy and the touch of Seve. 

His emergence comes at an opportune time for English cricket, as it attempts to recalibrate itself for the modern era of franchises, T20 and a fickle youth. He is a marketeer’s dream – brilliant, versatile, committed, honest, genuine – a poster boy to attract a new generation as well as keeping hold of and captivating the old. He is the glinting diamond in a growing pile of gems England are blessed with. Not just the intrepid 10,000 fans in Cape Town are grateful.

This article was published in the February 2016 edition of The Cricketer - the home of the best cricket analysis and commentary, covering the international, county, women's and amateur game

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