It has already been an interesting year for Ben Stokes as he has forged his way back into the England Test side. Saluted off the field in Grenada by Marlon Samuels, then saluted as a hero at Lord’s with the finest all-round performance by an England cricketer since Andrew Flintoff was at his peak.It can be assumed that 2015 is unlikely to quieten down for him over the next few weeks as the Investec Ashes unfolds following a typically pantomime-esque phoney war. Stokes was one of the few players to emerge with credit from the debacle Down Under in 2013-14 after scoring a bristling maiden Test hundred in the toughest of conditions at the WACA, then claiming a six-wicket haul amid England’s final mauling in Sydney.”It sounds like all I want to do his fight them,” he laughed when asked if the memories of that whitewash was extra motivation for what lies ahead. “That was the first taste of it, it didn’t go well, and there a wrongs that we want to right.”Stokes does not need to underline his competitive edge. Mitchell Johnson remarked earlier this week that the Australians quickly cottoned on that he was one of the few Englishmen up for the fight and they soon started to target him for some special attention.Eighteen months later, Australia know how many of England’s Ashes hopes are pinned on Stokes making a success of the allrounder’s role – as his performance against New Zealand at Lord’s suggested he can do – so that they can retain his counterpunching batting at No. 6 and his zippy seam bowling which enables a five-pronged attack. He will likely be the focus of plenty more attention over the coming two months.One of the challenges for Stokes early in his international career has been to control his temper. He was fined for giving a send-off to James Faulkner in an ODI at Perth and there was the infamous exchange with a locker in Barbados which left him with a broken hand. But the way he held himself together during the exchange with Samuels in April hinted at the maturing of a cricketer, not that his natural instincts will be dulled.”I’m definitely expecting there to be a few feuds out on the pitch, but I’m not one to go looking for it and cause an argument,” Stokes said. “If anyone comes at you in the heat of the moment, with the adrenalin going, I don’t think anyone in our squad will shy away. We have different ways of handling it, some turn their backs and walk away but I’m sort of the other way – look them in the eye and probably say something.”
England’s allrounders after 11 Tests
Ben Stokes: 683 runs @ 34.15, 2 hundreds; 29 wickets @ 43.24
Andrew Flintoff: 259 runs @ 14.38, 0 hundreds; 9 wickets @ 58.22
Ian Botham: 500 runs @ 41.66, 3 hundreds; 64 wickets @ 16.54
Tony Greig: 783 runs @ 48.93, 1 hundred; 27 wickets @28.11
What chances a repeat of Samuels? “I’m not sure they’ll salute; they might. It will be good banter if they do.”Stokes admitted that the likeliest chance of a flashpoint is when he has ball in hand – his bowling role is one of striking rather than containment – but he insisted it is part of his DNA as a cricketer.”I’m not sure cool and calculated is the right way to describe my batting, but my emotions certainly do come out when I’m bowling – there’s a lot more adrenalin involved compared to batting. If there are any incidents it will probably be when I have the ball in hand. It’s definitely a strength of mine, you are in a battle and you don’t want to be losing. I don’t want to take a backward step and let them think they are on top.”Stokes’ own memories of the 2005 series, for which the 10-year anniversary is providing a regular reference point, are of being involved in an Under-15 tournament for Cumbria where the parents sat around their cars more interested in the Ashes score than what their children were up to. That series is largely viewed as having been played in good spirit, centred on Flintoff’s arm-round-the-shoulder to Brett Lee at Edgbaston.But there were flashpoints, too, not least when Ricky Ponting was run out by Gary Pratt at Trent Bridge and before the series when Matthew Hayden and Simon Jones went chest-to-chest in an ODI at Edgbaston, a moment often cited by England players of the time as when they made it clear to Australia they would hunt as a pack. It is a mindset Stokes hinted would be used again if needed.”You know that if you chose to pick a battle you have the other 10 guys backing you. That doesn’t mean I’m going to start throwing punches, but you know your team-mates will back you.”Beyond all the pre-series bluster, enacted for the third time in two years, Stokes has every right to believe his cricketing skills alone will be enough to carry him through the Ashes. He has emerged from a difficult 2014 following the tour of Australia, which included three consecutive ducks against India, with a period of consistent cricket, highlighted by his Lord’s heroics where he made 92, 101 – the fastest Test hundred on the ground – and claimed three second-innings wickets including a wicked inswinger to remove Brendon McCullum.”Since I first came in I’ve been in and out of the side, so this is the first time I’ve really been involved heavily for a good amount of time,” he said. “I do feel a bit more part of it, part of a team and a group that is making people want to watch cricket again.”Flintoff has been among those to laud Stokes’ ability – saying Stokes is a better player than he was while he “bluffed his way through” – but Flintoff’s Ashes of 2005 came when he was seven years into his career and had dominated the world stage for the preceding 18 months: from The Oval Test of 2003 against South Africa to start of 2005 Ashes, Flintoff scored 1268 runs at 43.72 and claimed 78 wickets at 24.60.Expectations of Stokes then can get out of hand, although after 11 Tests he has a significantly superior batting tally to Flintoff and also better bowling figures.Stokes insisted he had not let himself ponder what life might be like if he has a telling impact on this year’s Ashes. “I’ve not really thought about anything like that to be honest. We know how big the Ashes is: I was part of one in Australia and on the receiving end of a few mad Aussies when walking around the street. But we are in England now and have the support of the nation for seven weeks. It will be a bit different for Australia.”
