England captain Ben Stokes has spent the past week immersing himself in the story of The Godfather and is ready to make Australia an offer they can’t refuse in this week’s must-win Ashes Test.
Both sides have everything to play for at Emirates Old Trafford, with the tourists seeking a first series win on English soil since 2001 and Stokes’ side hungry for a victory that would tie the scores at 2-2 and set up a thrilling decider at The Kia Oval.
The growing sense of anticipation around the fourth Test is only dampened by an uncompromising weather outlook, with plenty of rain forecast over the weekend, but Stokes has made it clear that he cannot abide draws and is willing to pull every lever in his power to achieve positive results.
Opposite number Pat Cummins may need some more encouragement to play ball, with a draw enough for Australia to retain the urn, but Stokes’ choice of pre-match entertainment took him in a different direction entirely.
“I spent most of my time on the sofa, watching a TV series called The Offer and I watched The Godfather. It’s a great film,” Stokes said of his downtime after a classic encounter at Headingley.
Francis Ford Coppola’s Mafia classic, and the 10-part drama about the making of the movie, will have exposed Stokes to some famously extreme methods of persuasion but he has already established his own way of forcing things in his favour, based around ultra-aggressive batting and bold declarations.
Expect more of the same in the coming days if the weather begins to eat away at England’s chances.
“I think we always try and look to be creative, I think the way in which we play will force the game on anyway. There might just be a few different tactical decisions to make,” he said.
“If there is potentially even 100 overs lost in the game, we might have to look at pressing the game on quicker than we normally would. I don’t know how they’ll play this game; we do know that they just need a draw to retain the Ashes. I’m not looking too much into that, but I do understand it.
“You never want to look too much into the weather but in the position we find ourselves in, we might find we have to. We know we have to win this game for us to have a chance of getting the urn back. It might bring more out of us again knowing that we might have to push the game on even more than we normally do.”
Stokes has made it one of the founding principles of his tenure as skipper to re-energise the five-day format, casting his teams as entertainers as well as athletes and making a clear bid to draw new fans to the Test arena.
On several occasions over the past few weeks, the Ashes has felt like the biggest sporting draw in the country with three tight finishes and plenty of nail-biting tension. Stokes is desperate to deliver a fitting climax by setting up a winner-takes-all finale but hopes the feelgood factor can outlive the series regardless of outcome.
“I hope this craze around cricket doesn’t get lost if things don’t go our way in this Ashes,” he said.
“I think we have captured the imagination of a few more people, whereas 2019 felt like we were getting a lot of cricket fans coming up to us and saying well done, now it’s more people who don’t even like cricket.
If we go to The Oval level, I think we’ll be challenging 2005 for one of the best series in England— Ben Stokes
“It would be amazing (to win here). We would be focusing more on the fact of winning this game and going to The Oval 2-2 but then when we took a step back, that last game would be everywhere. If that does happen and we do go to The Oval level, I think we’ll be challenging 2005 for one of the best series in England.”
Despite 18 years having passed since that famous summer, James Anderson represents a dressing room link. He was an unused squad member in 2005 and returns on home turf in Manchester as the 40-year-old leader of the attack.
There are few accolades he has not achieved in a career that has seen him become the most prolific seamer in history in terms of wickets taken and games played, but a five-wicket haul at the ground which has an end named after him still eludes the veteran.
“Is he not on there yet?,” said Stokes, standing in front of Old Trafford’s honours board.
“I’ve got to say, I’m amazed at that. It would be good if he was able to do that, it would be nice to get his name up. To still be doing what he’s doing at 40 years old, and I think over the last six or seven years his stats have got better every year, he’s just an amazing performer. He’s been an incredible gift to English cricket.”
