NEW DELHI: England skipper Ben Stokes' fitness has always been the billion dollar question, especially after undergoing surgery due to the reoccurrence of a hamstring injury. But on return against Zimbabwe, he managed to electrify with his bowling returns.
But come June 20, the day when England’s five-match Test series against India begins in the vibrant city of Leeds, it will also mark the beginning of Stokes’ most defining era as England’s Test captain.
Last summer, the importance of the India series notwithstanding, winning the Ashes in Australia came out as the ultimate goal for England. But it’s difficult to imagine England succeeding against India and later in Australia unless Stokes makes a substantial contribution with both bat and ball, where he has this uncanny ability to make things happen with either skill.
Steve Harmison, the former England fast-bowler, who’s known Stokes since he was a 15-year-old in Durham, believes if Stokes takes on a heavier bowling load against India, it could take the burden away from a couple of young, inexperienced bowlers.
“Ben Stokes looks in great shape, based on what I saw of him during the Zimbabwe Test match. He looks fitter than ever from a physicality point of view, and the way he bowled in the Test match against Zimbabwe, I think he'll bowl a lot this summer, as England will need him to do that. When he's bowling well, that has a knock-on effect on his batting and as a result, he bats well. He's an unbelievable captain and a colossal leader.
“So, if Ben Stokes can bowl more overs this year and be the force to reckon with as an all-rounder, he might just take that little bit of worry away from what people might have from the bowling attack point of view. With that, he might take the burden away from a couple of young, inexperienced bowlers that are going to be thrust into this Test series, ” said Harmison in an exclusive conversation with IANS, organised by talkSPORT.
Barring Stokes and Chris Woakes, none of other England pace-bowling options haven’t played even ten Tests, which means their bowling attack looks vulnerable on paper. With the hope that Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, and even Mark Wood might be available at some point, Harmison highlighted have to nail down a defined bowling identity.
“It's a real challenge for England to try and find a formula for making a bowling attack that can beat India at home and then beat Australia away. That potentially could be two or three different combinations because of the surfaces you play on, the balls that you use, and where in the world you're playing, whether its northern or southern hemisphere.”
“So, England have got to find a formula because that's the one thing at this time they're lacking in. The biggest worry for me would be the bowling unit being a well-rounded unit - they've got bowling individual stock, but I don't think they've got a unit stock. What I mean by that is, I don't think they've got a group of four fast bowlers where three are needed to play at any given time and bowl to a plan because they haven't had a plan, or haven’t been durable enough to put games together.”
“So, England are still trying to find a bowling attack that can say, ‘right, this is the plan, and this is England's bowling identity’. They haven’t got one because I don't think they've built one yet, more so because their bowlers haven't been fit to bowl for a prolonged period of time.”
“Mark Wood's been injured a lot, Jofra Archer will hopefully be back for the second Test match. I expect Woakes, Carse, Tongue, Bashir and Stokes to be the bowling attack for the first Test match. When you look at what comes underneath that, you've got Overton and Cook - both of them have played only one Test match each.”
“So, there's a lot riding on Chris Woakes' shoulders and he's only bowled 66 red-ball competitive overs since January. So, when I say I'm worried about England's bowling attack, I'm just not sure what their identity is going to be and they need to find that quickly because they've got some difficult Test matches coming up.”
Amidst the gloom surrounding England’s fast bowling, Harmison predicts Brydon Carse’s high release point, high pace and accuracy to trouble India. “If I was to pick one bowler from England that India might want to look out for and watch out for, it would be Brydon Carse. He's got something that I don't think India would have faced in Test match cricket in England in the last few series.”
“He’s somebody who’s got a very tall, high release point, bowls at 90 miles an hour. When they've been here in the past, they've had Broad, Anderson, and a bit of Woakes. They've not had extreme pace, so hopefully in the first Test, they'll have Carse and then Archer in the second Test.”
England also have an interesting Jacob Bethell situation to deal with - everyone has cited Bethell as a superstar in the making since he burst on to the scene on last year’s tour of New Zealand. But given Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope’s recent centuries against Zimbabwe, Harmison believes Bethell’s inclusion in the starting eleven will come if someone is injured or badly out of form.
“For me, he fits in at number 12 at this moment in time. He doesn't play for me. I think the only people who have put pressure on Ollie Pope has come from within the England camp. Stokes brought up that Bethell will be back when he's finished with RCB. I don't think anybody expected him for that Zimbabwe Test.”
“Then even Luke Wright, the selector this week, more or less indicated that Ollie Pope's got to fight for his place, probably after telling him that he was going to bat number three. So I don't think Jacob Bethell features until somebody in the top seven gets injured.”
“Even if something happened to Jamie Smith, Ollie Pope would keep wickets like he did in New Zealand and then Jacob Bethell will fit in there. So England's top seven, I think, will stay the same. Jacob Bethell will be out of the team until somebody in that top seven is probably injured, and he’s just going to have to wait for his place.”