To maintain the clarity of thought to recognise that in that situation is remarkable in itself; to have the skill to pull the shot off as well is almost unique. In England, cricket has to shout for attention: the Test team’s hard-fought rise up the rankings in 2011 was never going to make as many headlines as the rousing one-off. The conversation soon turned to the bizarre incident in the final over of normal time, when Martin Guptill’s throw hit Ben Stokes’s bat and raced to the boundary. Headingley was the latest example of a strange phenomenon. Back out in the middle, Leach successfully negotiated four balls from Pattinson to bring Stokes back on strike against Nathan Lyon. By the time Stokes arrived at the crease in England’s second innings, Joe Root and Joe Denly had at least given him a platform upon which to build. Stokes had some crazy moments of fortune at Lord’s. The obduracy he had shown the day before continued after he resumed on Day 4 as he failed to score off any of the first ten deliveries he faced. England batsmen with most ODI runs v AUS, Why Bumrah & Shami didn't bowl again v KXIP, Quiz! On the Sky Sports coverage of the match, Mike Atherton’s voice is relaxed as Leach comes to the crease, as though he’s expecting to calmly read the last rites to England’s Ashes campaign. The sight of Stokes demonstrably knackered, either while batting or bowling, has become common. Analysis from CricViz, who hold the largest database in cricket, show it is the longest spell by a pace bowler in international cricket since 2006. Isa Guha should have been Atherton’s co-commentator at that stage, but she made the decision to step aside to allow an Australian to describe the winning moment that everyone assumed would be imminent. For the first time, the crowd noises are unironic and for the first time, Atherton’s voice rises with them. We know that sport is at its most thrilling when its protagonists are subjected to conditions of extreme pressure. ‘Ian Smith is not thinking “by the barest of margins” before he calls it, Ian Bishop is not thinking “remember the name”, it just comes out naturally really. The other notable aspect of Atherton’s commentary is that, for the first minute or so after Leach reaches the middle, there is seemingly nobody commentating alongside him. Of England Test innings that have been reported on widely enough to merit inclusion here, arguably only two can challenge Stokes: Pietersen’s 158 at The Oval on the last afternoon of the 2005 Ashes, and – a few weeks after Headingley – Botham’s 118 off 102 balls at Old Trafford, where he hooked Dennis Lillee without a helmet. A big part of Stokes’s appeal is that, in an era of media‑training and image-consciousness, he is authentic, sometimes to a fault. He hit three fours in his first 85 balls, before the situation demanded that he go nuclear. You sensed a bit of panic in their ranks. Two to win. Now, it was agreed their win might never have happened without the limited-overs game. Players are routinely judged on how they deal with pressure, whether they rise to the challenge or fail to overcome it. One cricketer whose career has come to be more or less defined by retaining his clarity of thought in high-pressure moments is Ben Stokes. “I’m going to go through a period of low scores and not got too well,” said Stokes three years ago in his book, Firestarter. From the back of the Sky Sports commentary box, Atherton implored the off-spinner to toss it up and tempt Stokes into a big shot. It was telling that, off the final ball of the World Cup final, when England needed two to win and one to tie, Stokes’s sole thought was to bunt the ball into a gap so that he would get at least one run and ensure England would live to fight another over. In any sane year, events on the fourth and final day of the third Ashes Test at Headingley would have had pride of place. The very next ball, after Cummins had come around the wicket, he played the same shot, but this time was able to run through for the most important single of his career. In that sense, Stokes is the ideal hero for these melodramatic times. SALE Ben Stokes England fielding v South Africa T20 Durban 2020. ‘At that point, England needed 50 to win and you could sense a bit of a shift in the atmosphere, a bit of a shift in the momentum. But pressure does funny things to people, and Lyon inexplicably fumbled. More drama would follow in the over as Stokes played a reverse sweep off the penultimate ball. The reverse sweep off Lyon was followed by a scampered single that had been met with a standing ovation from the Headingley crowd. The replay showed the ball would have hit the stumps and Stokes would have been out had Australia had a review up their sleeve. Pressure. And so, it was left to Leach, England’s number 11, to face Cummins, the number one ranked bowler in Test cricket. “That,” whispered Buttler, “was the first thing he middled all day.”. You can make all these brilliant suggestions about declarations and field placings. From a ball almost identical in line and length to the one Lyon bowled three balls before that was hit to mid-on, Stokes instead readjusted and dispatched a remarkable reverse sweep into the Western Terrace. Now Australia couldn’t win the match, Stokes was on strike and Nasser Hussain was ready to call the winning moment. On the second ball of the over, Stokes attempted an audacious scoop shot, but failed to get bat on ball. It was more the fact he had the balls to go through with it, as it were.’. ‘These connections are formed over the course of someone’s life, formed in Stokes’ brain from when he was batting as a 12-year-old, to when he’s winning a match for Durham, but it also includes the moments when he’s failed.’. ‘So, the note of surprise in my voice is not surprise that he’d taken that option, in that I sensed that it was on. But Stokes’s unbeaten 135, Jack Leach’s unbeaten one, and England’s one-wicket win, were – by the barest of margins – only the second-most astonishing twist of 2019. ‘This is what fascinates me about the brain, that all these connections happen to create something spectacular. It was like awarding a silver medal to Steve Redgrave. Get the latest news, recommended reading and offers sent to your inbox. Two balls later he got it right, striking Lyon firmly over long off for six. Somehow, Stokes was able to rationalise the job at hand and keep going. In any sane year, events on the fourth and final day of the third Ashes Test at Headingley would have had pride of place. He deserves everything that comes his way because he’s an incredible cricketer and an even better bloke.”. Yet he might reflect that it was a blessing in an extremely good disguise, one that was humbling rather than humiliating. ‘One of the beautiful things about being sat in the commentary box is that you have no responsibility, there’s nothing on you at all. ‘What it allows you to do actually is just occasionally play off the crowd. There were no doubts creeping into his head whatsoever.’. But with just nine runs to win, one man remained calm in the eye of the storm. But England’s greatest Test innings? The greater the stakes, the more Stokes wants – needs – to be involved, which is why his career will always lurch between extremes of success and failure. Ben Stokes: My Headingley heroics will mean nothing unless England win the Ashes Save Ben Stokes hit an unbeaten 135 in the third Ashes Test to keep England's series hopes alive Credit: PA The first ball of Lyon’s next over was wide enough that Stokes had to step in front of his stumps and launch another straight six. ‘Controlling this allows you to gain clarity of thought and draw out particular memories from all the times you have been successful in the past. Perhaps both countries are simply giving their people what they want. After ducking under a bouncer, Leach worked the ball to square leg but couldn’t beat the infield. ‘Having had the World Cup final a few weeks before – the feelings and mindset associated with that were so fresh in his mind. After Leach saw out four balls from Pattinson in the next over, Pat Cummins replaced Lyon at the Kirkstall Lane End. Two days earlier, after England had folded for 67, their relationship with white-ball cricket was branded toxic. “Everything he does is for the team,” said Stuart Broad last Sunday. According to WinViz at the start of the innings, they had just an 11% chance of pulling off their highest ever successful run chase. The enjoyment comes after the event, with a primal roar after he blasts the winning runs – just imagine how alive he felt at that moment at Headingley – and then behind closed doors with his mates. Stokes started slowly, registering 30 dot balls between the first and second singles of his innings and he reached stumps on Day 3 with just two runs to his name from 50 balls faced. Perhaps Stokes was able to find that courage from the experience he had of dragging England out of a hole just six weeks earlier, in the World Cup Final. ‘I should have been on with Isa but she took herself off commentary and said, “we should have an Australian voice on here” and that’s when Shane came in. Ben Stokes century leads England to epic Ashes-saving win at Headingley By Stephan Shemilt BBC Sport at Headingley Last updated on 25 August 2019 25 August 2019 . All rights reserved. Meanwhile, Isa Guha was struggling to sit down and remembers the emotion of those crazy last few overs. For almost all of that innings, Stokes was frustrated by his inability to time the ball on a difficult pitch. Jofra Archer hung around a little longer to make 15, but after his dismissal was shortly followed by Stuart Broad’s two-ball duck, Stokes was left with just Jack Leach for company. Unlike Gilbert Jessop’s 104 at The Oval in 1902, it survives beyond a few written words. “But all of a sudden I know something can just happen for me. Stokes did not just bring England back from the dead last Sunday; he brought them back from a cremation. It’s not planned, but you know that there are certain things you’ve got to get right. The point of my comment that the match wasn’t over was that we shouldn’t be surprised that cricketers can do incredible things.’. With victory so close, possibly the first chink in Stokes’ temperament was exposed as he set off for a single that wasn’t there, hesitated and sent Leach – already two-thirds down the pitch – back to the non-striker’s end. One cricketer whose career has come to be more or less defined by retaining his clarity of thought in high-pressure moments is Ben Stokes. While most spectators, never mind the players, were unable to think straight, Stokes had a precise gameplan each time. But what exactly is pressure? Attitudes can become self-fulfilling. Incredible things on an incredible day. He didn’t celebrate his fifty; he didn’t celebrate his hundred. Buttler’s comment was playful and affectionate, yet there was a bit of truth in it. In the biggest moments, Stokes cannot hide his fatigue or his emotions – he could not watch when Jack Leach was batting last Sunday and he was one of the few England players who cried on the field after the World Cup final. The all-action miracle man will never be perfect but belongs to that rare group of sporting giants with superhuman will, Last modified on Sun 1 Sep 2019 10.06 EDT, In the delirious aftermath of the World Cup final in July, Jos Buttler had a quick chat with Michael Vaughan on the Lord’s outfield. He has always had wild fluctuations in form and has been fighting self‑doubt ever since, at the age of 14, he puked through nerves before his debut for Cumbria. CricViz Classics: Ben Stokes at Headingley, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and the Question of ‘Slow-Downs’, How Kieron Pollard eschewed convention to become cricket’s most fearsome ball-striker.

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