There are hints that, after the chastening 4-1 defeat in India, Bazball has evolved into a new and more ruthless phase. In the chase of 205 against Sri Lanka on a turning pitch at Old Trafford, for instance, England scored at a relatively prosaic 3.6 an over.
“I think we’re just a better team,” Stokes says. “The best teams in the world are always wanting to improve every little thing. And we’ve definitely done that since India.
“I hate the word clinical, because clinical is a word that gets said based on the outcome of a decision that you make. It’s either clinical or not, if it goes well or not. But I think you look at all the times that we’ve been put under pressure, which has been quite a few times – we’ve handled it very well. We’ve got ourselves through those tough periods, and then we’ve ended up dominating the game. Potentially, last year, things might not have worked out as well.
“That’s a sign that the team’s progressed from where we were. Everyone understands and knows that if we want to be the best team in the world, then when we do get put under pressure, we probably assess that a lot better. And maybe we make some better decisions.”
After his appointment ushered in England’s new buccaneering style, “We were maybe a little bit one-dimensional when we were put under pressure in the first couple of years,” Stokes reflects. “Whereas now, I think we’re a lot better at maybe understanding the situation and giving ourselves a few more options.”
‘We’re leaving no stone unturned’
Before the summer, Stokes publicly declared that England’s decisions, especially moving on Anderson and a new emphasis on pace, were made with the next Ashes in mind.
“It’s just giving ourselves the best opportunity to be able to pick a squad that we think is going to give us the best chance of winning out in Australia,” he reflects. “We definitely know what we want.
“When it comes to Australia, we’re basically not leaving any stone unturned. That doesn’t mean we’re going to win it. We’re going out there to hopefully win, but it’s just about picking the 15 or 16 blokes to give us the best chance of winning.”
For England, perhaps most important of all is to have Stokes playing in his full capacity as an allrounder. His return to a full allocation of overs against West Indies was followed by a hamstring injury sustained in the Hundred. Though he batted in the nets at Lord’s, England are concerned about the risk of aggravating the injury. As such, Stokes’s return in the series in Pakistan, which begins on October 7, will be carefully managed. He is not guaranteed to be fit for the opening Test; even if he is, Stokes will be eased back into bowling.
“The thing with the injury that I had is that it’s a very high recurrence rate, so it’s about not pushing it too hard too early,” Stokes explains. “I’d rather take two weeks longer to give myself a chance of not re-injuring it.
“I feel absolutely great now. I don’t even feel like I’ve got an injury. But that’s the danger time where if you push yourself a little bit too hard, too early, then you can be back to square one, if not even worse.
“This is a long time out from bowling. And you have to build yourself back up again. So I’m just making sure that I’m doing all the right things.”
