England all-rounder showed
such discipline in compiling his 176 at Old Trafford and that willingness to
learn and improve means he can scale yet more heights for his country
Many more innings like the
one he scored here on Friday and there must be a peerage around the corner for
Ben Stokes, though I’ve not yet ascertained where
he stands on Brexit, which is obviously
crucial. It is 13 years since we learned Ian
Botham was to be knighted and I recall being asked to cast
aside my
Astonishment – and delight – for a moment
to pen a swift profile for the Observer. This time no profile is required; not that much has changed
for Sir Ian since 2007 but perhaps the manner peerages are distributed has.
Stokes now treads a similar
path to Botham. The parallels are irresistible and frequent, especially when
rain interrupts a Test match: both brilliant,
charismatic, fearless
sportsmen capable of dominating the front pages for good and ill, let alone the
back ones. Stokes will prove to be the more reliable run-
scorer but he will never be
able to match Botham the bowler when he was at his lithe peak between 1978 and
1981. Both impose their will on proceedings in a manner way beyond ordinary
mortals.
hey have less visible similarities. Both
have revelled in playing surprising innings. It was instructive to hear Stokes
say the most satisfying element of his knock at
Old Trafford was not reaching three
figures (for the 10th time in Test cricket) but that he had batted for 300
balls – “I never thought I would be capable of that,” he said.
Likewise Botham was quite proud of his last half-century for
England, in August 1987, against Pakistan at the Oval, an unbeaten 51 from 209
balls, with a sub-
Sibley strike rate of 24.4. He was obliged to bat out the day
for a draw alongside his captain, Mike Gatting, and he took pleasure in
demonstrating he could block with the best of them.
Cricketers
do not like to be cast as one-trick ponies. Once I asked Derek Randall about
his favourite innings, fully expecting him to recall his epic, impish, Lillee-
baiting 174 in the Centenary Test of 1977, a knock touched by
genius. But he said he preferred his 150 at Sydney 18 months later; there he
batted for almost 10
hours, faced 498 balls and had a strike rate of 30.12. He had
received an “almighty bollocking” from his captain (Mike Brearley) for his rash
shot in the
first innings and he wanted to prove he could bat responsibly
and dourly if necessarily.
He shared a long slow, partnership of 85 with
Brearley at the start of his vigil; to aid concentration in searing heat they
decided to divide each session into 15-
minute segments, which led to Randall’s
memorable exhortation to his captain: “Stick at it, Brears. In 10 minutes, it
will be 15 minutes to tea.”
Stokes stuck with it all right at Old Trafford.
He showed the way in an extension of the leadership role he was given
temporarily at the Rose Bowl. Botham was
also a great leader, though not necessarily
when captain. He was the dominant force in the dressing room. Brearley has
spoken of his tactical nous and
sensitivity towards colleagues. Botham would
be the first to welcome newcomers into the fold (he would not, after all, feel
threatened by them) and would help out however he could when they hit trouble.
I sense another similarity here. Stokes has
had his trials, spectacular ones, and has valued the support of teammates in
the tough times. No wonder that he
should now stress how “we need to be there to support
Jofra”. Archer may be isolated at the moment but Stokes has said that he will
do all he can to make sure
he does not feel alone. Botham would have done
the same three or four decades ago.
But there are differences, which are reflected by their attitude
to running. Even at 29 Stokes trains with ferocious commitment and in this
regard he is a role model
for the team: Dom Sibley has cited him as an inspiration for
losing 12 kg since the tour of South Africa. My memory may be faulty but it is
hard to recall Botham
adopting a similar approach as he neared 30. Nor did Ian work so
earnestly on his game as the years passed.
Stokes
is evolving as a batsman. He will never offer a blithe defence of “that’s the
way I play” because he has proven over the past couple of years that he can
play
in a variety of ways; he prides himself that he adjusts to the
situation, which is a selfless approach. Jacques Kallis, another great
all-rounder, batted in the same
way whenever he went to the crease, whatever the situation. That
was a pragmatic way to do business and very productive but Stokes has higher
aspirations. He is an immense batsman now and still desperate to
improve, which means he probably will.
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