Originally Posted by
the other bob wilson
It is absolutely incredible that two days after being bowled out for 67 in good batting conditions, England came up with their highest ever fourth innings total to win a test match, but, perhaps, the most encouraging thing to come out of the post match interviews was to hear Stuart Broad in particular saying that a lot of England's play over the four days had just not been good enough. Although the lament I posted after England's first innings looks a bit daft now, the truth is that England only won because four of their batsman played proper test innings'.
Joe Root went back to basics to give England a chance after the loss of two early wickets, Joe Denly grafted away, but showed in the way he got out that it might be best to drop him now. the brilliant Jack Leach, a mad moment that should have seen him run out apart, looked the calmest man in the ground, but, despite that trios efforts, it needed the most astonishing innings from an extraordinary cricketer to get them over the line.
Ben Stokes was supposed to have played a once in a lifetime innings six weeks ago, but this is no ordinary cricketer. His efforts with the ball in the Australian second innings showed that, but, as mentioned earlier, what happened yesterday should mean that every other British sportsman/woman we see over the rest of this year is only competing for second place in the sports personality of the year award.
There was one other batsman who played a part in winning that game - Jonny Bairstow, who I would drop from the team, provided a boost to the side by playing the sort of one day type innings that I think is at the root of England's troubles, but he rode his luck to do so and, for me at least, the same doubts remain as to whether he has the all round game for test cricket,
Stokes, however, offers the best of both worlds - he had the modern day strokes played to perfection to launch England towards an almost impossible win after the ninth wicket had fallen, but he had also scored only two from sixty six balls at the time Root was out. Okay, that's an extreme example of the defensive outlook that you need to show at times in test cricket, but, like Ian Botham before him, Stokes has a good defensive technique when he chooses to use it - yesterday's incredible events don't change the fact that too many of his England team mates do not.
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