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Ben Stokes tells county cricketers: Match England's aggression to be selected

Ben Stokes tells county cricketers: Match England's aggression to be selected - AP
Ben Stokes tells county cricketers: Match England's aggression to be selected - AP

Ben Stokes has urged county cricketers to play with England-style aggression if they want to press their claims for international selection.

His call follows the Test whitewash of New Zealand, which was completed when England chased down 296 in just 54.2 overs at Headingley, taking their series run rate to 4.54 per over, their highest in a Test series of three matches or more.

“These last three games, they should have sent a message to people who aspire to play Test cricket for England over the next two or three years at least,” Stokes, the England captain, said.

“I would say it’s the manner you play, whether that be with ball or bat in your hand, not necessarily your stats or anything like that. The manner you play is probably going to be first and foremost in selectors’ minds, because what we want to do is build on this.

“And it’s not just about us at the moment, it's about the future as well, and what I think we’ve done over the last three weeks is make people enjoy watching Test cricket again.

“If were on the wrong side of results in these games, if they’d played out the same way but we’d lost, I’d have walked off a very happy captain with the way everyone’s applied themselves, the attitude they’ve given, to every single day, every single session, every single hour of these three Test matches. I would like to think people watching know what they have to do to bang the door down and try to get in this team.”

England captain Ben Stokes celebrates the series victory over New Zealand - GETTY IMAGES
England captain Ben Stokes celebrates the series victory over New Zealand - GETTY IMAGES

Stokes hailed the side’s performance during the series as “just sensational. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from anybody”. And he was particularly complimentary of Jonny Bairstow, who hit the second fastest fifty for England in Test cricket, reaching the landmark off just 30 balls, to extend his remarkable form. Bairstow hit 136, 162 and 71 not out in his last three innings of the series and is now the leading Test run scorer in the world in 2022, with 774 at an average of 64.5.

“Jonny knows what he’s in the team to do now, and he knows how he wants to play,” Stokes said. “That’s something he’s been able to do in white-ball cricket and he’s playing as if he’s got the colours on. For him to back up an amazing knock at Trent Bridge with a performance in both innings this week was something very special.” Stokes was especially pleased with how, led by Bairstow, England had recovered from 55 for six to 360 in the first innings.

“The circumstances he found himself in at 55 for six and being out there and still managing to score a hundred at over a run a ball is something very, very special,” he said. “And the most pleasing thing for me about this week was the situation we found ourselves in and how we continued to play.”

England’s next Test is against India at Edgbaston, starting on Friday. It is the fifth and final Test of the series postponed due to India’s concerns about Covid-19 last summer. England are 2-1 down in the series, and Stokes vowed that there would be no change in the side’s approach. “We’re going to concentrate on us and, regardless of the opposition, we’re still going to have the same mindset,” he said.

England’s only change is that Sam Billings, who replaced Covid-hit Ben Foakes midway through the third Test against New Zealand, has been added to the squad as cover. But Foakes is expected to be fit to play, while James Anderson could also return to England’s starting XI.