Ben Stokes: England’s new Test cricket captain sets out his stall

Stokes’s spectacular innings – his first since being appointed England skipper – bodes well

Ben Stokes hitting a record-breaking 161 from 88 deliveries for Durham against Worcestershire
Ben Stokes hitting a record-breaking 161 from 88 deliveries for Durham against Worcestershire
(Image credit: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

The “fabled” feat of hitting six sixes in an over has only ever been achieved twice in first-class cricket, said Ali Martin in The Guardian: by Sir Garfield Sobers in 1968 and by Ravi Shastri in 1985. And last week at New Road, Worcester, Ben Stokes, England’s new captain, came within a whisker of joining this “elite club”. Playing for his county, Durham, against Worcestershire, he launched the first five balls of Josh Baker’s 20th over for six, bringing up a 64-ball century in the process. Sensing that history was about to be made, the crowd fell silent. Yet off the next ball, Stokes could only manage a “one-bounce four”. He had plundered 34 from the 18-year-old left-arm spinner’s over – but still recoiled in “frustration at an opportunity missed”. When he was finally out, for 161 off 88 balls, he had to content himself with a lesser record. He had struck 17 sixes – the most ever in a County Championship innings.

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