Interim Head Coach Paul Collingwood believes Ben Stokes’ influence on and off the pitch is helping rid England’s Test team of the “scar tissue” from this winter’s dismal Ashes tour.
After losing the Ashes 4-0, England have shown some improvement in the first two Tests of the tour of West Indies, which sees a decider on Thursday in Grenada.
Stokes went into the Ashes on the back of a four-month mental health and injury break, and had a poor series, averaging 23.6 with the bat and 71.5 with the ball. He picked up a side strain in the Fourth Test at Sydney, meaning he played the last Test as a batter.
In the Caribbean, Stokes has looked fitter and his all-round influence on the game is growing once more. He has bowled 77 overs in two Tests, picking up five wickets and going at just 1.81 runs per over, and scored a sensational century in the Second Test in Barbados.
Collingwood believes Stokes’ influence has led to a “different energy about the team”.
“He’s desperate to do well for the badge, for England,” he said. "Even the meetings when we first arrived, getting the scar tissue from Australia out the way and how we were going to move forward. You could see and hear he had the bit between his teeth and wants to lead this team.
“I think he and Rooty have done a magnificent job turning this round. We can all see it, the performances on the park that there is a different energy about the team. That is the benchmark now, if we can do that, we will get the results.”
Collingwood was full of praise for Stokes’ innings at Kensington Oval.
“Phenomenal,” he said. “What a great innings. He’s box office. Everyone was watching. You didn’t want to miss a ball he was facing. In many ways it shows where we are as a team that guys can go out and express themselves.
“They want to put on a show, get a win under their belts, and we have a great attitude at the moment. All the way through the Test match we were pushing for the win. It always felt as though we were a session or session and a half behind the game with the pace Brathwaite batted in the first innings, but he showed great resilience right the way through the Test match to get a draw for them.
“It’s been hard work, but you cannot fault the effort. If you could measure attitude and effort it couldn’t get any better than that.”
Asked what the difference between Australia and this tour was for Stokes, Collingwood said it was down to the volume of cricket. England’s Ashes preparation was severely disrupted by heavy rain in Brisbane, which was particularly detrimental to Stokes after his long lay-off.
“I think he’s got the Ashes under his belt,” he said. “He was going into the Ashes with not much cricket under his belt, but he’s fit, he’s determined, you can tell he wants to make a difference in the dressing room as a leader. When he’s preparing himself like he is at the moment he certainly leads.
“He wants to go out in the middle and put in big performances. He wants the ball in hand, score the runs. He’s doing just that at the moment. It’s amazing when he’s got this kind of attitude, as we all know he’s one of the best. Long may it continue.”
