I’m not a fan of his and don’t deny that. Fair play he lucked out today and did something nobody thought. I just won’t let one innings distort my view of a player good or bad.
How many innings are chanceless? Very few. To be critical of how he's played today is childish & utterly ridiculous.
How many times has Ben Stokes won us a match? How many times has Ben Stokes been completely inadequate and assisted our defeats? That’s all you have to answer.
He’s lucked out and he’ll be heralded no doubt. I’m not being critical of his innings at all. Saying he could have been out multiple times isn’t childish, it’s fact.
The a I don't have the stats to hand and nor do you so there is no answer to that question. Just try to enjoy rather than letting petty grievances get in the way of what was an outstanding innings.
Banging your head against a brick wall mate the particular poster you’re arguing with refuses to see any other points of view apart from his own.
We'll have to agree to disagree as it's coming over incredibly childish. You don't like him - fine. But that's not a reason to knock what he's done today or in the past and despite what you want to believe he has contributed successfully to a number of games.
Me neither. I make judgements over their careers and up to now he's proved to be a world class all rounder, indeed he's currently ranked number 4 all rounder in the world. But no i don't like him and he's extremely lucky to be playing test cricket (not guilty m'lord... mmm?).
I don’t have a grievance with stokes at all. We won a game we should have lost. But slightly before that, we won a game we should have easily won. My single hope is that selectors, captain and coach don’t get distracted that we’re suddenly s great batting unit. Because we’re not. I’m sure you can see that too, despite getting out of jail so luckily. I’m sure Stokes will retain his place, but Roy and Buttler surely cannot. And if Woakes is injured and unable to play his best, then we have to replace him too
I suggest you watch Ian Botham's knock at Leeds in 1981 and see how many thick edges he got boundaries from.
How is it childish to say he’s a poor batsmen the majority of innings he’s played? I don’t understand how one single innings can make him great. He’s done well today, which isn’t the norm (see first innings for something more typical) he lucked out, I’ve said that multiple times.
That's a different conversation though and I batting line up does need looking at. I was defending Stokes as he batted and bowled excellently over the last 3 days and you were were putting the boot in which I considered to be incredibly unfair. Let's not forget he also got a century in the last match aswell.
Oh Ben Stokes, you are the love of my life Oh Ben Stokes, I'll let you sh@g my wife Oh Ben Stokes, I want ginger hair too
Proves my point that if he’s the 4th best all rounder, world cricket has a dearth of talent. Glad you backed up my argument, thankyou
Bit much there, stats can be overplayed. There are 15 people who've played more than 10 tests for England since 1980 who average more than 35 with the bat. To say someone only qualifies as a test batsman if they average over 50 is just daft. That'll make them one of the best of all time. Ponting's average is 51. Tendulkar and Kane Williamson are 53, Virat Kohli and Brian Lara are 52. He's a bit lower than he could be because he came through as a fast bowler who could bat a bit, whereas now he's a batsman who can bowl. It's part of the problem of spending the last four years focusing on the world cup, not tests.
I’ve said many times he rode his luck against one of the poorest Australian sides in my lifetime. Well done him. Well done to him. He’s still a very average cricketer in my view with a very suspect temperament and failed most of the time. If he goes on to get 350 plus wickets and an average befitting a number 5, I’ll be delighted. I doubt that will happen, but you never know... he might learn how to bat now having been sensible twice in his career.
