“Haven't seen a more competitive England cricketer in my time than Stokes” - Nasser Hussain hails England captain 

Nasser Hussain has lauded current England Test captain Ben Stokes after his spectacular 155 gave Australia a scare on Day 5 of the Lord’s Test. Describing Stokes as the most competitive England cricketer in his time, he added that the batter’s knock on Sunday was a truly incredible innings.

England went down to Australia by 43 runs in the second Ashes 2023 Test at Lord’s. Chasing 371, they were bowled out for 327 on Day 5. However, as long as Stokes was out in the middle, the hosts’ hopes were alive.

Resuming his innings on his overnight score of 29, the dynamic left-handed batter clobbered nine fours and as many sixes in a sensational counter-attack that had shades of his Headingley epic in 2019. However, Stokes was dismissed with England 70 away from the target after which Australia eased to victory.

In his column for the Daily Mail, Hussain was effusive in his praise of Stokes.

He wrote:

“Ben Stokes showed his colleagues in the dressing room what playing for his England team is all about on Sunday - and there is no better cricketer in my era in that kind of situation. Ask me who I would want to be at the crease from the past 30 years and it would be Stokes.

Hussain further wrote:

“He has done it so many times, whether it be the World Cup final, World Twenty20 final or Headingley four years ago and it was remarkable on Sunday that he almost added another match-winning masterclass to his portfolio. That was a truly incredible innings."

England resumed their second innings on Day 5 at 114/4. Stokes and Ben Duckett, who was 50* overnight, batted with defiance in the first hour to raise the hosts’ hopes. Duckett once again perished to the short ball for 83. Stokes was sedate in the first hour, but Jonny Bairstow’s contentious stumping fired him up.

Applauding the England captain for giving Australia another scare, Hussain wrote:

“I haven't seen a more competitive England cricketer in my time than Stokes and it’s amazing too how often he gets the ball out of the middle of the bat in these kinds of situations when all the fielders are on the rope. If he doesn’t clear them, he gets it in the gaps.”

The 55-year-old opined that Australia had lost the plot during the phase when Stokes decided to go on an all-out attack.

He stated:

“For some people, the tactic Australia used of protecting the boundary, stops them scoring but as we saw in Leeds four years ago, he is one of those cricketers - because he's so powerful, and his placement is so good - for whom it makes no difference. Tactically, Australia had no answer and in the end, their change came in the nick of time.”

Stokes' marvelous innings ended when he top-edged a delivery from Josh Hazlewood, attempting another big hit.

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“Greatness is a word we use with Viv, It’s one fitting too for Stokes” - Hussain

Paying a massive compliment to Stokes, Hussain claimed that the word greatness sits well with the current England captain, just as it did with West Indies legend Sir Viv Richards.

Hussain wrote:

“Maybe Viv Richards is the only cricketer I have seen able to hit the ball into the gap or out of the ground as well as Stokes. Greatness is a word we use with Viv. It’s one fitting too for Stokes.”

Concluding his thoughts on England’s performance, the former captain stated that the hosts could have been 2-0 up had they been a tad more street-smart.

He wrote:

“He [Stokes] almost pulled that off, and if England had just been a tad more street smart across these first two Ashes Tests, they could be 2-0 up, not 2-0 down heading to Headingley.”

The third Test of Ashes 2023 begins at Headingley in Leeds on Thursday, July 6.