South Africa in New Zealand 2026
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
25 minutes ago
- BBC News
No-one can stop Stokes overdoing it but himself
I had everything crossed while watching Ben Stokes run in to bowl on the final day of the fourth Test against times he looked like Laurel and Hardy's car with various bits of his body looking like they were going to fall off because of his Stokes there is always lots of talk about someone in the dressing room, whether it is his vice-captain Ollie Pope, his friend and team-mate Joe Root, or coach Brendon McCullum, having to tell him not to push himself too are past that point now. It is clear no-one is going to be able to tell Stokes what to is hard because Stokes knows how important he is to his team. He feels the responsibility because it is his team and at Old Trafford he was head and shoulders above the other bowlers on either he has got to look after himself and look at the bigger him, England's hopes of winning this series at The Oval next week or in the Ashes in Australia this winter would be massively diminished. It really is Stokes or bust for England right now. Archer 'not the express bowler some expect him to be' It is both a huge compliment to Stokes and a concern that he offered so much more threat than the rest of his bowling attack, particularly with the old has taken six wickets after a ball is 40 overs old in this series. Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue have taken two wickets combined across the same shows his bowling really is world return to Test cricket has been largely encouraging but on Sunday he discovered what it is to be truly Test-match feet looked sore, his pace was down to 83mph in his final spell and he did not look as also confirmed he is not the express bowler some people expect him to can do that role for a spell here or there where he really heats things up, like he did at times in his comeback at Lord's, but he is not like Mark can bowl at 95mph whenever you throw him the ball but, for whatever reason, Archer's rhythm is not always is great he is back and that he has been able to play two games is another step on his progression to playing in the he just needs a few weeks to put his feet up because if he did not remember what Test cricket feels like, he will now. 'Dawson not threatening but may work down under' After Archer made his comeback at Lord's, the England player returning here was Liam Dawson after eight years away, in place of the injured Shoaib Bashir.I am still not sure about Dawson as England's bowled tidily – 47 overs for only 95 runs in the second innings – but that he did not take a wicket as England pushed for victory on the final two days summed it up. He did not look action is is very chest-on compared to the more traditional off-spinner's technique of getting sideways and using your hips to pivot and put more action into the Dawson is 35 and has had a good career, I am by no means calling for him to change his technique but that is a reason why he is never going to be a big turner of the course the other way of looking at his performance is that he was largely accurate and may actually be what England need when it comes to bowling in the heat down under, you do not want to leak runs through your need to hold up an end to allow the quick bowlers to rotate and have a rest. That is why Graeme Swann was so valuable when England won under Andrew Strauss in the 2010-11 will rightly get another go at The Oval, where he will hope to make even more of an impression. Changes are a must for The Oval When it comes to the fifth Test, England will have to make changes because Woakes, Carse and Archer look is no surprise given all four Tests have gone the full five days – something unheard of in recent years in this Tongue and Gus Atkinson look certainties to return to bolster the bowling attack and then it will be about whether Stokes is fit to play a full part, fit enough only to play as a batter, or not fit at when Stokes has not been able to bowl England have looked to squeeze in a fourth seamer, like they did in the 2023 Ashes when Moeen Ali was recalled to be a spin-bowling will be desperate for Stokes to play but if not they will just have to go in with three pace bowlers plus Dawson. That keeps the batting strong for a game they cannot afford to will be desperate for some more grass on the pitch, anything to give pace and bounce to help his bowlers, and then hope his body need him. Without Stokes they are half the Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Matthew Henry
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ben Stokes willing to ‘run through a brick wall' to face India in Test decider
Ben Stokes insisted 'pain is just an emotion' as he revealed he will do his utmost to be available in an all-round capacity for England's Rothesay Test series decider against India. The England captain struggled with cramp in his left leg and general soreness, while more fitness issues emerged on the last day of the drawn fourth Test as he was clearly discomforted by his upper right arm. Stokes revealed he had hurt his bicep tendon, with his injury niggles the result of a taxing workload that has seen him already send down 140 overs in four Tests – the most he has ever bowled in a series. However, Stokes, the leading wicket-taker of the series with 17 at an average of 25.2, is optimistic of taking to the field at the Kia Oval on Thursday as England try to seal a 3-1 series triumph. 'Hopefully I will be alright going for the last one,' he said. 'I am doing everything possible to be alright. It's been a big five or six weeks, I'll always try to give everything I possibly can. 'It's just a workload sort of thing. We got a fair amount of overs and everything starts creeping up on you. I'll keep trying, keep going and as I say to all the bowlers: pain is just an emotion. 'I'll always try to run through a brick wall for the team. Bowling, being out on the field it is tough work. I'm feeling pretty sore. I've physically been better. 'I don't want to eat my words but the likelihood I won't play (at the Oval) is very unlikely.' Stokes was magnificent at Emirates Old Trafford, where he became the fourth Englishman to record a five-wicket haul and a century in the same match – after Tony Greig, Lord Botham and Gus Atkinson. India slipped to nought for two when they had yet to eat into a 311-run first-innings deficit but KL Rahul and Shubman Gill led the tourists into calmer waters with a 188-run partnership. Stokes, having not bowled on Saturday, struck to have Rahul lbw for 90 during an eight-over burst on Sunday morning and hopes were high when Jofra Archer prised out Gill for 103 on the stroke of lunch. However, Joe Root's drop of Ravindra Jadeja from the next ball proved costly as the India all-rounder and fellow left-hander Washington Sundar batted out the rest of the day, making twin unbeaten hundreds. 'When the reality (hits) with where the game drifted towards, there is obviously going to be that comedown,' Stokes said. 'You can get the vibe that we've thrown everything and not been able to get over the line, there is that sense of disappointment and almost heartbreak – me being a captain, I was as well.' However, Stokes is well aware they cannot dwell on this result for too long as he added: 'I've got to be that upbeat person as well.' There were farcical scenes as the game drifted towards a conclusion in Manchester, where Sundar and Jadeja refused to shake hands with 15 overs to go – the earliest a draw could be agreed. The pair had batted out the final two sessions to ensure India would avoid defeat but on 80 and 89 respectively, Sundar and Jadeja carried on to rubber-stamp their fine performances with hundreds. England's frustration was palpable and Stokes brought on Harry Brook for some buffet bowling to speed things along, with Jadeja getting to three figures first before Sundar followed for his first Test ton. 'I did have to tell Harry Brook 'please don't do anything stupid – I can't have you pulling a side',' Stokes said. 'I wasn't going to risk any of my proper bowling options. 'They played incredibly well. I don't think there would have been much more satisfaction in walking off 100 not out, getting your team off in a tricky situation, than walking off at 80 or 90 not out.' 'Scoring 10 more runs isn't going to change the fact you've got your team out of a very, very tricky situation and saved your team from a series defeat.'
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
England denied as Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar earn India dogged draw in fourth Test
And so a Test that long threatened to be decided by the unstinting efforts of an all-rounder was. Though not one but two and not Ben Stokes, who discovered that not even he can bend every game to his will, but Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Centuries for the two India spinners in a partnership of 203 capped a terrific fightback and ensured the series remains alive when these teams reconvene at The Oval on Thursday. India cannot win it but, as their doggedness at Old Trafford showed, they have a willingness to scrap to avoid defeat. In the process, they secured that rarity: a draw. It was just the second of Stokes' captaincy, both at Old Trafford, but the first to be unaffected by weather; the forecasts were inaccurate and England were denied not by the elements but the opposition. That England ended with Harry Brook 's hopeless attempts at off-spin underlined how, for once, they have given up on victory. Shubman Gill led the defiance and it was fitting he marked it with his fourth hundred of the series. As important as the 103 runs the captain made was the 379 minutes he lasted. He came to the crease with Chris Woakes on a hat-trick and India 0-2, 311 runs behind and with five sessions to bat. Then a finish on Sunday felt possible. Instead, after two wickets in two balls, England only took two more in the next 142 overs. Even that required something special from Stokes. A man who was unable to bowl on the fourth day opened the attack on the fifth. Bowling with pain, troubled by his shoulder, Stokes nonetheless got more from the pitch than any of the other seamers. An eight-over spell that brought a wicket and could have produced another reinforced the impression of Stokes as superman. But it took a lot out of him: his second spell was shorter and less effective. There was no third spell. It remains to be seen if the series' best bowler can be a genuine all-rounder at The Oval. He showed his catalytic power. The man who can make things happen had Gill dropped at cover by Ollie Pope even before trapping KL Rahul lbw with a decision that was so clear the opener started to walk before being given. Out for 90, he could testify to the uneven bounce Stokes was getting from the Sir James Anderson End. But Rahul had provided a five-hour platform for India to save the game. Stokes at least afforded England an opening before the second new ball. Jofra Archer removed Gill, caught behind after an injudicious waft, but only after joining Don Bradman in a select club who made four hundreds in a series against England and the great Australian and Sunil Gavaskar who managed four in one as captain. One wicket had brought another immediately on Saturday. It almost did on Sunday. Jadeja was dropped first ball, a juggling Root dropping it at the third attempt. He had held Yashavi Jaiswal at the second but a fumble proved costly. So did others: Gill had been spilled on 46 and 81 and, with the pitch yielding just 24 wickets in five days, England needed to be immaculate. India were obdurate. Some of their choices have backfired at Old Trafford but not the decision to promote Sundar to deputise for the injured Rishabh Pant as their No 5. He had never previously batted as high in Test cricket but looked eminently equipped to do so, facing 206 balls. Cautious early on, he hooked Stokes for six and four to bring up his fifty. A maiden Test century followed and deservedly. Jadeja joined him and underlined why, brilliant a game as Stokes has had, he tops the ICC world rankings for all-rounders. His fifth fifty in his last six innings spoke to a remarkable consistency and, accelerating against spin, he converted it into his fifth Test century. There was a belated reward, too. He had made a valiant effort to win the Lord's Test but was stranded with the tail. Given a similarly fine batter at the other end, he offered watchful defence and accelerated in the evening session to give India a lead. England rarely looked like dismissing him. Brydon Carse, with a lone wicket in the series against left-handers and an average of over 200 against them, was not called upon until 2.19. Liam Dawson worked his way through 47 overs, many of them economical, but Stokes felt he missed the rough too often. There were times in the morning when England beat the bat, but fewer thereafter. It left England looking over-reliant on Stokes as India showed they don't have a monopoly on high-class all-rounders.
