England’s Test summer belatedly starts against West Indies at Lord’s on Wednesday, with Ben Stokes admitting that his focus is not just on the Richards-Botham Trophy that is immediately at stake but on the more distant goal of the Ashes.
“We’re not focusing on that over what we need to do here. We’ve got a lot of Test cricket to play before Australia,” the England captain said. “But we had to make some decisions around what we think is best for the team going into that series.”
The four-month gap since England’s last Test, against India in March, has given their management time to take stock and plan for the future. The results include the enforced end of Jimmy Anderson’s international career and the promotion of Jamie Smith as wicketkeeper at the expense of Ben Foakes, even though he is preferred in that role for their county, Surrey, in red-ball cricket. Shoaib Bashir becomes first-choice spinner at the expense of Jack Leach, despite being his understudy for Somerset.
“When you have a lot of time off, you’ve got a lot of time to think about how you want to take the team forward,” Stokes said. “I’ve been captain now for two years, so for me it’s about progressing this team. We’ve been very focused on the here and now. I want to push this team as far as they can go, not only as a collective but also as individuals.
“I’m not going to lie, I want us to be able to take a squad out there that I know is going to go at Australia. I’ll be nearly four years as captain when we go out there, I want to know we’ve done everything right over this 18-month period to go out there with a strong enough squad to not just compete with Australia but to beat them. It’s probably the first time you’ve heard me speak like that about something so far away. It goes back to progression as a side. I want this team to progress over the 18 months, so I’m focusing on that because I want to go to Australia and win the Ashes back.”
The England team has been strengthened by Stokes’s own return to fitness following a knee operation last November, apparently resolving an injury that for a while forced him to abandon bowling altogether – he has managed only five overs for his country in the last 12 months.
“I’m very excited to finally be able to go out on the park and not have to worry about how things are going to feel in my body,” he said. “I’ve got myself into a position where I can finally say after a long time that I can play the role I’ve sort of been known for, which is batting and being that fourth seamer.
“I know when I’m bowling and playing the full role as the all-rounder how much it adds to the shape of the team. Over the last two years it’s been pretty much three seamers and a spinner, and that’s very hard work when we spend a long time in the field, like we have done at certain times. Knowing that I add balance from a bowling point of view but also being able to bat [at No 6] is a massive thing for the team.”
England Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wkt), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jimmy Anderson
West Indies Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (wkt), Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales
Lord's, 10-14 July, play begins 11am
The England side will watch the Euro 2024 semi-final after the close of play on Wednesday, and Stokes expressed sympathy for the criticism Gareth Southgate’s team have faced as they have progressed through that tournament. “I know everyone wants to see English sports teams do really well, but just from my point of view I find it tough sometimes when you say you want them to do really well but then you’re very quick to hammer down on them,” he said.
