Hitting No. 6 is ‘the best thing for the team’; Newly appointed England captain Ben Stokes has confirmed that he will return to sixth in the batting order on international duty; he has been coming to bat at No. 5 but feels the move will improve the team as they look to win again
Newly appointed England captain Ben Stokes has revealed he will return to No 6 in the batting order in a move he believes will only help the team.
Opening up about plans for his new role, Stokes believes returning to No. 6, rather than hitting No. 5 in recent Tests, will maximize his overall performance as he tries to end England’s poor form.
“I will go back to number 6. I know I am at my best for England when I am playing both roles. [batting and bowling] as much as the other,” Stokes said.
“I feel like going back to No. 6 will allow me to focus on those roles as much as the other, instead of worrying about one while doing the other. I think it’s best for the team.”
After confirming his move up the batting order, Stokes is hoping to make more big calls as England captain and input from other senior voices will be invaluable, especially when rotating his bowling attack.
However, after captaining England against the West Indies in 2020, the 30-year-old believes he has learned how to make sure his teammates’ opinions are heard.
He said: “It’s something I’m going to have to focus on. I have great veteran players around me and it would be stupid of me not to include them, especially in decisions on the field.”
“It’s something I thought I handled very well in the Test match against West Indies. I asked Jos [Buttler] a lot about me personally and what I thought.
“When you’re thinking about doing something for yourself, you may not be thinking about it the same way someone else is.
“Jos told me a couple of times that you have to come here. That’s an example of how I use the seniority around me to help me.”
“But I have always followed my instinct, which has served me well and I will continue to do so as captain.
“Not just about me, but decisions about who I’m going to bring to bowling. I’m going to make sure the voices of other players feel valued and I’m going to use other players around me.”
“I don’t want it to be ‘Ben is in charge now, he’s the only one making any kind of decisions.’ I feel like a key part of being a leader is making sure everyone around you feels valued.”
While positive about how he can help the team through his own contributions, Stokes is aware that the Test squad has a lot of work to do to counteract their recent poor form.
England’s recent struggles have been laid bare, especially for the Test team, who have only managed to win one of their last 17 games and making the Test team ‘great again’ is one of Stokes’ main goals in his career. new role.
Reflecting on England’s struggles, he added: “Completely realistically, winning a game in 17 isn’t good enough for the people we have in our squad. We can look at that and say there’s only one left, who’s up.
“We haven’t been good enough. That’s not an individual comment, as I’ve been a part of it. As a team, we know we haven’t been good enough, we haven’t played at the level that we know we can.”
“It’s about understanding that and fixing it, but we have to understand that things aren’t going to happen overnight. I can’t expect it to click and all of a sudden we’re No. 1 a year from now.”
“I’m very excited about the role of making the England Test team great again. It’s a huge goal for me.”
