Ben Stokes, Class and the Spirit of Cricket
England cricket captain Ben Stokes is one of the great cricketers of all time with the ball, the bat and as a captain. Without him currently England are a lesser side.
The 4th England v India Test at Old Trafford on 27th July ended in a draw the first 5 day draw of Ben Stokes Captaincy back to 2022. The final few overs when it was clear the only result could be a draw had some rancour. India declined an offer from Stokes to shake hands and end the game wanting Jajeda and Sundar to get their centuries, which they duly did.
The Telegraph report described it thus
England took the draw worse than a defeat, not covering themselves in glory as they reacted to centuries by Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar with churlish cynicism.
It went on to suggest that Stokes needed a dictionary to check the meaning of a ‘draw’.
Alastair Cook on Test Match Special thought India were right to bat on as more surprisingly did Geoffrey Boycott in the Telegraph.
It was a sort of ‘spirit of cricket’ issue which historically has meant whatever England thought was appropriate.
The Telegraph is a very class conscious paper however and there was another meaning. Namely that Ben Stokes in the pre-1963 Gentleman v Players era would have been a Player (that is a Professional). If a Gentleman was in charge the churlishness would not have happened.
The world however has moved on . Stokes’ attitude was part of Bazball an approach to cricket not dissimilar to management consultancy. Gentleman v Players is from a previous era even if the Telegraph still lives there
More a matter of good manners, surely, and the ability to feel sympathy for the two players who went on to get their well-deserved centuries. I’d certainly rather live in a time when such things mattered, rather than the “management consultancy” approach.