31 July 2023 , 19:28
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When Ben Stokes accidentally and bizarrely threw away a catch offered by the gloves of Steve Smith, a lot of people inside The Oval reckoned he had dropped England’s chances of a jubilant finale to a compelling Ashes series.
But as he left the field for the lunch interval, the England skipper made a point of hurrying around as many team-mates as possible, geeing them up, fist-bumping, motivating. And when play eventually resumed, England were like a team possessed, no doubt inspired by their captain.
Stokes has not won the 2023 Ashes but he has won the hearts and minds of any fan who somehow began this summer with any doubts about his leadership qualities.
Inevitably, you can question the odd decision, and considering these two teams proved to be inseparable, that opening day declaration in the first Test will always be a focal point.
But it was made in the spirit of adventure and aggression that has been England’s trademark throughout the summer. It is and always has been Stokes’ trademark.
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And it is hard to deny his mentality has not rubbed off on his charges and the faith and loyalty he puts in them often pays dividends. It did when Zak Crawley’s second innings knock of 73 cemented his place as England’s top scorer of the series.
It did when Jonny Bairstow took another great catch on this final day to get rid of the dangerous Mitch Marsh. It did when Moeen Ali - Stokes’s pick when Jack Leach sustained a pre-series injury - took his three crucial wickets here and, in a poignant scene, walked off arm in arm with Stuart Broad.
And quite memorably, it did when he tossed the ball to the now-retired Broad late on Monday and asked him to follow the sort of script that Stokes himself specialises in.
Ben Stokes drops a catch at The Oval as his teammates watch on (Getty)Stokes barely bowled in this Ashes but he led in the field, even if he did fail to make an outlandish catch that would probably have won that first Test at Edgbaston.
And, of course, he made his contribution with the bat. Who can forget that remarkable 155 at Lord’s, albeit in a losing cause? Then, there is the intangible element of everyone buying into his and Brendon McCullum’s - for want of a better word - project.
It goes without saying that there is one major caveat when celebrating the performances of Stokes and England over these past seven weeks. Ultimately, they did not achieve their goal, they did not win back the urn.
But England did not lose this Ashes series and, don’t forget, they were two-nil down and would have won the final three had it not been for the Manchester rain.
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 31: Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes of England embrace following Day Five of the LV= Insurance Ashes 5th Test Match between England and Australia at The Kia Oval on July 31, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)That takes spirit, that takes balls, that takes inspiration. Stokes - who has not lost a Test series since taking over as skipper - has all three.
There were many defining images of yet another memorable day in this epic Ashes journey and one of them was the sight of Stokes, tearing away after taking a catch to dismiss his opposite number Pat Cummins, finally launching the ball skywards … and then catching it as it dropped, as if to make a humorous, celebratory point.
This is a skipper who wears his heart on his sleeve of tattoos. No wonder the noise from the crowd was as cacophonous as you will hear at an English cricket ground.
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Hopefully, Stokes will get good rest and will continue to manage his way through the physical issues that have dogged him in recent times. No, he did not wrestle back the Ashes but the Ben Stokes era of swashbuckling Test cricket is in full swing. Long may it continue.