second test: v Australia in Perth 2013
18 and 120, 1-63 & 2-82 (Australia won by 150 points)
You don’t have to win all the time to prove you’re a winner. England were thrashed 5-0 in Australia, smashing one of their greatest teams to pieces, but there was one exciting positive: it was Ben Stokes’ maiden Test series. While most of his elders were breaking down, Stokes, with his fiery red hair and energy to the point of cliché, stepped into Test cricket’s hottest kitchen and immediately lit some more fires. At first, Australia dismissed him as just another massacred Pom. Stokes delivered those conversations, most of them with an asterisk, and delivered a classic brilliant fourth-innings hundred at the Waqa Stadium. Stokes played a textbook straight drive, pulling away arch-enemy Mitchell Johnson with effortless authority and briefly giving England hope they could chase down a target of 504. They didn’t, but Stokes won something even rarer than England’s Ashes victory: the enduring respect of everyone wearing baggy green.
Tenth Test: Main Test 2015 vs New Zealand
92 and 101, 0-105 and 3-38 (England won by 124 runs)
In “God’s Test”, England overcame a huge deficit to defeat New Zealand years before the word “Bazball” was coined, marking the first appearance of Stokes’ swashbuckling match-winner. . A brilliant 92 runs on the first day helped England chase 389 runs from 30 runs in 4 games. They were still trailing by 134 runs in the first innings, but Stokes’ brilliant 85-ball century – the fastest at Lord’s and his first of countless Kennedy moments in Tests – was Changed the atmosphere of the game and the nation’s attitude toward a team that had spent much of the past two years in the doghouse. On a feel-good final day, Stokes delivered consecutive passes, dismissing Kane Williamson, who was most likely to save the match, and Brendon McCullum, who was most likely to win the match. This wouldn’t be the last time he seizes the moment and the game.
55th Test: Headingley vs Australia 2019
8 and 135*, 1-45 and 3-56 (England won by one wicket)
Nietzsche would have loved Ben Stokes. He has always found strength and growth in adversity. The Bristol court case had left him wiser, but also slightly weary. The death of his father Ged gave Stokes a perspective and career mentality that would make him a billionaire if he could bottle it. Carlos Brathwaite’s four-win six in the 2016 World T20 final shaped Stokes rather than defined him. Not with the ball – he has hardly bowled at the death since then – but as a batsman. The experience taught Stokes that if you look deep enough into the game, incredible things can happen. He soon realizes that the heartbreaking end inspires something within him—a defiant virtuosity beyond that of his fellow immortals, let alone mortals. Six weeks after his once-in-a-lifetime miracle in the 2019 World Cup final, Stokes produced another to keep the Ashes alive at Headingley. No innings in Test history has ever reached such a climax. Stokes scored 3 off the first 73 balls, 58 off the next 104 balls and 74 off the last 42 balls, including seven energetic but clear-headed sixes, with Jack… Jack Leach’s 76 collaborations were filled with brotherly love. Stokes achieved this in 24.2 overs before taking to the water, broken only by four deliveries from Jofra Archer. Stokes’ marathon was born of masochism, maybe a bit of martyrdom and almost certainly a lot of self-blame after a poor first-innings shot. Stokes’ 3 for 56 ensured England’s victory target was nearly impossible to achieve rather than completely impossible.
Test 61: vs South Africa in Cape Town 2020
47 and 72, 0-34 and 3-35 (England won by 189 runs)
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Judging Stokes through statistics is as misguided as trying to quantify love. He was the third-highest run-scorer and joint-fourth-highest wicket-taker in the 2020 Cape Town Test; he was also the undisputed best player of the game. There were many better performances, not least the 258 at the same venue in 2016, but England ended up drawing, so what’s the point. Four years later, Stokes’ selfless knock of 72 from 47 balls made that statement and allowed Dom Sibley to achieve No. 1 without leaving his comfort zone. century of testing. A day later, in the final hour of play, Stokes leveled the series with his last three wickets. Stokes lived for the final act, and when everything was at stake, it was hard to believe that any England player could decide so many matches when time, runs or wickets were running out. There’s one Stokes statistic that feels relevant. In England’s first Test innings victory, he averaged 39 with the bat and 30 with the ball, not much better than his career record. His average scores in the second game were 48 and 21 respectively. For England fans, it’s not what love is about, but it does speak to some of their fondest memories.
87th Test: vs Pakistan in Rawalpindi 2022
41 & 0, 0-35 & 1-69 (England won by 74 runs)
Stokes should be man of the match too, he really killed everyone with bat or ball. England’s stunning stoppage-time win, on a flat pitch that could have tied an eternal Test, was ultimately testament to Stokes’ tactical genius and indomitable spirit. Positivity. Nasser Hussein called it the best five days of captaincy he had ever seen. The game, which had a total of 1,768 points, set a record for positive tests. Virus-hit England scored a jaw-dropping 506 in just 75 overs on day one; it was Bazball on metaphorical steroids. On set, Stokes believed every hunch and rejected every norm. His wicket-taking strategy included umbrella pitching, favoring leg-slip over orthodox, and rejecting the new ball. He doesn’t allow the game to drift or his brain to rest on a pitch. When Jack Leach – a naturally cautious spinner who developed into a wicket-taker under Stokes – won the match with minutes remaining, England had There are eight players and the wicketkeeper around the bat.
