Ben Stokes bowled far more than anyone – including his captain – expected him to. Having picked up a side strain bowling bouncers in Sydney on a poor Ashes tour, expectations were well and truly managed before this game.
But from day two onwards (with a rest on the fourth), Stokes got through a whopping 41 overs. He has only bowled more than that three times in his 77 Tests.
Many criticised Joe Root for failing to remove the ball from his hands, but it was not quite that simple with Mark Wood already injured and Stokes much more effective than Chris Woakes and Craig Overton.
The captain and vice-captain chose to walk the tightrope based on “more honest” conversations between them on the matter of his fitness. Stokes is in better shape than he was in Australia.
“We were trying to win a Test match and trying to tell Ben Stokes not to bowl was very difficult. He was incredible throughout the whole game,” said Root.
“We tried to be smart throughout because the one thing that came out of Australia was making sure we had honest conversations. We said we wanted to manage him as best we could throughout the game and he’s probably bowled a bit more than we anticipated but he has stood up to it very well.”
Let’s see how Stokes pulls up in the coming days…
Root cause
When Root completed his 24th century, he took off his helmet, put his bat on the ground and dug a necklace out from under his shirt, giving it a kiss. It was a gift from his son Alfie, five.
“Alf made it for me before we came out,” he said. “I found it in my bag before I went out there, thought I’d put it on and it got me to a hundred – so I thought I’d acknowledge that.”
Root, like most cricketers, is a superstitious man. Last year, he started doing his pre-match press conferences two days out from games (rather than one as is standard for captains). He immediately started scoring centuries again, so the habit stuck. (It was quietly shelved before this series).
Expect the necklace to stay.
Declare an interest
Root got plenty of praise for a declaration that was seen as fair. West Indies’ seasoned coach Phil Simmons had a broad smile on his face when asked about it, though. “I’d have gone for 250 in 80 overs, take the chance,” he laughed.
More seriously, he added: “No it’s good, we ended up being put under pressure because they’ve given themselves a chance with 70 overs to bowl against us and that’s how you want to finish a Test match looking to win”.
Kent kindness
By day three, the noise of the Barmy Army was being drowned out by the local band at the Sir Vivian Richards’ Stadium. But they were still very well represented, and Brits are expected in greater numbers at Kensington Oval next week.
The Barmies did produce one heart-warming story, though. A blind fan, Martin Lloyd, was guided through the game by the Barmies’ Rich “Tiny” Nicholls. Lloyd is a Kent fan, so Zak Crawley donated the shirt he scored his century in.
