The Guardian - 27.08.2019

Section:GDN 1N PaGe:44 Edition Date:190827 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 26/8/2019 20:29 cYanmaGentaYellowb

• The Guardian
  Tuesday 27 August 2019

England’s greatest

ever all-rounder

Stokes has eclipsed

Botham and Flintoff

with summer heroics

I

n the biggest summer in

English cricket history Ben

Stokes has stood head and

shoulders above the rest.

He is the best cricketer I

have played alongside and

while it might be a massive shout

• and admittedly he is a very close
  friend – I would argue he is now the
  greatest all-rounder this country has
  ever produced.
  To deliver an innings like the one
  he played at Headingley , just six
  weeks after winning us the World
  Cup fi nal, and with the Ashes on
  the line, is what seals it for me.
  I know there are past greats like Ian
  Botham and Andrew Flintoff but
  we’re watching another legend in
  the making here. When everyone
  woke up on Sunday morning there
  was a sense that England could do
  something very special. I followed
  the run chase throughout the day
  but with two runs to win I had to be
  peeled away from the TV screen in
  the dressing room to go out and bat
  for Worcestershire in our T20 game
  against Lancashire.
  The match actually paused for a
  good minute or so when a huge roar
  went up – it must have been Jack
  Leach levelling the scores with that
  nudge off the hip – and then soon
  after this it was followed by an even
  bigger one when Stokesy smacked
  that four. He was literally stopping
  games around the whole country.
  The thing is, none of it surprised
  me. Stokesy has always had the
  talent and potential. My beliefs are
  that good people who work hard get
  their rewards. There will be struggle
  at times and hurdles along the way


• life throws up all sorts – but in the
  end, you will prevail if you stick to
  the right path.
  Stokesy fi rst came on my radar
  when I saw him hitting an
  88-ball century against

Moeen Ali

Bolton crisis

Clock is ticking

on founder

member’s

existence

US Open

Konta battles

through after

being taken

to decider

Page 37  Page 38 

The Gu

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTuTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT esday

es

er

 Ben Stokes’s

masterclass at

Headingley

came only six

weeks after he

guided England

to World Cup

glory at Lord’s

TOM JENKINS/

THE GUARDIAN

Andy Bull

Stokes has

grown into

the best

version of

himself

Page 42 

Vic Marks

Jack Leach

says clean

glasses were

key to innings

Page 43 

Geoff

Lemon

It’s far too

easy to play

the Paine

blame game

Page 40 ^40 

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