Ben Stokes: England Test captain admits a positive approach with the bat ‘not yet paid’ in Pakistan series defeat | Cricket News

England Test captain Ben Stokes has backed his top order despite his side’s 2-1 series defeat in Pakistan, saying he has “no doubt” he has the best players in the country.

England racked up a massive 823 runs in the innings of victory to open the series on a flat pitch in Multan – Harry Brook hit his third century and Joe Root 262 – but the batters have used struggling during the two subsequent losses in changing tracks.

Ben Duckett hit a first innings of 114 in the second Test, but the rest of the top order has contributed little; Zak Crawley averaged 27.80 in three Tests, Ollie Pope just 11.00 and Stokes himself just 13.25 in two appearances since returning from a hamstring injury.

Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain said: “Three of your (England’s) top six look gone.

“I’m talking about Crawley, Pope, or even Stokes in Asia … his last 10 scores are too low in those conditions.”

But the captain stood by the chosen player, telling Sky Sports: “There’s no doubt in my mind or Brendon’s (McCullum) mind that we’ve got six of the best players in England.

“Sometimes guys will get rewarded for doing well in the middle and, unfortunately, some other guys will get lost.

“How you deal with disappointment, how you deal with failure, and how you deal with it, is a big part of who you are as an individual.”

On his own struggle for form with the bat, Stokes added: “I’m always trying to adapt and develop as a player, be it against spin or against pace.

“I’ve played cricket where disappointment is always there, always hit hard, but when you have a lot of experience to fall back, it’s always easier to pick up.”

Stokes: England’s approach hasn’t paid off

Stokes added on the disappointing series defeat to Pakistan: “The last two games, we had some challenges and a good way to describe it is that we didn’t stand up to those challenges.

“When that happens, you might end up on the wrong side of the outcome – and that’s what happened.

“It’s very easy to sit here and say, at the end, when everything is opened up, ‘Could we have done something a little bit differently, comparing ourselves to how Pakistan is doing?’

“But when we go out on the field, we are very clear about how we want to do it and I’m sure Pakistan will do the same.”

England’s bold approach, dubbed ‘Bazball’ since he and head coach Brendon McCullum took over the team in the summer of 2022, went on to win the series 3-0 in the final tour of Pakistan later that year.

The three surfaces they faced two years ago were as fond of batters as the series opener this year, but when the ball is rolling in the sub-continent, England have struggled – losing 4-1 to India earlier this year.

Despite this, Stokes said the team remained committed to how they played.

“We’ve seen some opportunities where that approach has worked for us, it’s worked for individuals,” added the captain.

“When it came out, it was clearly talked about as a good way to counter what the opposition was showing.

“You’d rather work more than not, but certainly in these last two Test matches, our approach hasn’t benefited us. there and play.

“And I’m not one to live in hindsight… you can’t go back and change your decisions or what happened.”

What’s next for England?

England’s white-ball side travel to the West Indies for a three-day international and a five-match T20 series, with the ODIs set to begin in Antigua on Thursday 31 October.

For the Stokes’ Test team, it’s next in New Zealand for a three-match tour starting in Christchurch on Thursday 28 November.

Pakistan vs England Test Series

First test: Multan – England won by an innings and 47 runs

Second test: Multan – Pakistan won by 152 runs

Third test: Rawalpindi – Pakistan won by nine wickets