Ben Stokes credits hard work for England heroics after overcoming knee injury

Star: Ben Stokes was named man of the match for his third Test showing
Getty Images
Tom Collomosse1 August 2017

Ben Stokes believes his injury problems are finally behind him after inspiring England to victory over South Africa at The Kia Oval.

Stokes damaged his knee during a one-day international against the Proteas at Headingley in May and struggled to regain top form with the ball during the first half of the summer.

But after producing a ferocious spell on the fourth afternoon which, along with his first-innings 112, earned the all-rounder the man-of-the-man award, Stokes warned South Africa he is back to his best.

England lead the Investec Series 2-1 and need only to draw the final Test at Old Trafford, which starts on Friday, to ensure Joe Root makes a winning start to his time as captain.

Stokes said: “It has been tough work over the last six or seven weeks. Since the knee trouble I had in the one-dayers I have found it tough to get back to my best rhythm wise, pace-wise. The big confidence boost came through bowling a long spell in the Second Test at Trent Bridge.

“I have been working really hard with Gibbo (fast bowling coach Ottis Gibson) in getting everything back to what it was last summer when I was bowling really well.

“It is now all about making sure I keep up the hard work and don’t rest on my laurels because I have had a couple of decent performances. During the build-up to next Test I will be making sure I do the same things and contribute to us winning some more games. I try to get in a battle with the batsman; that stirs me up more than anything else.”

Getty Images

Stokes broke the back of South Africa’s batting on day four when he removed Quinton De Kock and captain Faf Du Plessis with successive deliveries. It helped England clinch a 239-run win on day five, but the eight-over spell reminded team-mate Stuart Broad of Andrew Flintoff at his best.

Like Flintoff, Stokes now has five Test centuries and three five-wicket hauls. But the 26-year-old has reached those landmarks in 35 Tests, whereas Flintoff played 79.

Stokes added: “It is always nice to be compared to that guy. Some of the spells he produced for England were amazing to watch. It is nice to get compliments from your team-mates. I don’t really know what to say.

“But I am not trying to live up to anyone else’s reputation. All I am trying to do is produce certain moments in a game to swing it our way. I want to do what I do and try to keep putting in good performances.”

Mark Wood has been removed from England’s squad for Old Trafford due to the heel injury that sidelined him at The Oval. Steven Finn takes his place in a 13-man squad that is otherwise unchanged.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in