It could be viewed as the start of a year that will define the captaincy of Ben Stokes, but beyond an instruction to the medical staff to furnish him with “eight fit fast bowlers” come the Ashes, he claims to be looking squarely at the task at hand.
Similarly, this two-Test tour of New Zealand could be framed as having an extra layer of meaning personally. Thursday’s first Test at Bay Oval will be the first time Stokes has led the England team in the country of his birth, with his mother, Deborah, set to attend the second Test in Wellington next week.
