- England have a huge few months of Test cricket – starting on Friday
- England host India in a five-match series then head to Australia for the Ashes
- Ben Stokes has been exceptional as England captain but it could be even better
Ben Stokes knows that his England team will be judged on what happens in these two upcoming five-match Test series against India and Australia.
Because of the brand of cricket England have adopted, because of its rapid tempo and because of the swagger they have introduced to the most traditional form of the game, some people are simply waiting for them to fail.
And if they don’t win this series against India starting at Headingley on Friday, and don’t win the Ashes, there will be a lot of ‘I told you so’ from the people who said Bazball wouldn’t work against the best.
Yes, South Africa have just won the World Test Championship by beating the Aussies at Lord’s, but India and Australia have set the benchmark for the global game over the past 10 years.
Regardless of results for the remainder of 2025, though, if you asked me in 15 years’ time, ‘What did you think of Stokes as a captain?’ my answer would be, ‘Outstanding!’
For me, these next six months will not define him personally as much as it will define the regime of which he is a part alongside Rob Key and Brendon McCullum.
So far, their England team have been brilliant to watch, but if there is one thing you would ask them to address, it would be to act smarter in certain situations.
When they are ahead of the game, that is not necessarily the time to employ all-out attack, dead set on entertainment, thinking winning doesn’t matter.
Capitalising on winning positions in these next 10 Tests is more important than ever because of the quality of the opposition, but at times they’ve got to be ruthless and not offer opponents their chance to pounce.
Under Stokes, England have overdone things at times, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, or failing to grind out a draw.
Stokes famously said he would never play for a draw when he took over, of course, but there may be a time in these next 10 Tests that a draw makes all the difference. You don’t want to be looking back saying: if only we’d held on, we would have beaten India or won the Ashes. Nobody’s asking them to be negative and defensive; they just have to be ruthless.
I’m a huge admirer of what Stokes has done as skipper. Remember, when he came in three years ago, England had won only one of their previous 17 Tests. His win percentage of 61 is exceptional and the way he has led the side… it’s as good as anyone I’ve seen.
Yet it could have gone even better for England.
Poor batting at Lord’s cost them the second Test against the Australians in 2023. Equally, but for rain at Old Trafford later that summer, he could easily have upped his number of wins and regained the Ashes for England.
Very few captains tick every box, but Stokes pretty much does. A bit like Mike Brearley, he has great emotional intelligence. People want to play for him and he gets that balance right in his dressing-room relationships.
Great leaders talk about being a friend to other players, but not their best friend. Stokes gets that pretty much spot-on.
He is the players’ friend, but they’re scared of crossing him because he’s not their best friend and he will call them out if they haven’t pulled their weight.
Tactically, he has great nous, and he leads from the front. Sometimes too much. At times he’s over-bowled himself, and if he gets injured, England are a much poorer side without him.
If they are going to beat India and Australia, England need Stokes to be front and centre with his own contributions, and how he could do with rediscovering his form of 2019 with the bat.
Like the great cricketers who came before him, the onus is on Stokes to perform in iconic Test series like these.
