There are plenty of excellent all-rounders in English cricket, but none like Ben Stokes.
For almost a decade, whether he has been unavailable through injury, illness or suspension, or if fitness issues have prevented him bowling, they have struggled to replace him, leading to fudged selection.
Here we are again, for the remainder of this summer at least and possibly into October’s tour of Pakistan. For now, England have not called up a replacement, meaning they will either be short of a batsman, with Chris Woakes promoted to No 7, or a bowler, if Jordan Cox debuts at No 6. At this stage, the former fudge looks more likely, with Matt Potts or Olly Stone coming in as a fourth seamer.
At some stage in the series it would be wise, surely, to dip into that pool of all-rounders. Yes, none of them can hold a candle to Stokes, but in Sam Curran they have an experienced international in excellent form. It would be a waste not to try him against Sri Lanka. If they do not, it is possible to see him lost to Test cricket forever, at just 26.
This is not about planning for life after Stokes. That can wait for another day. It is about planning for life without Stokes, were he to succumb to another injury in the next 18 months.
Since his big operation on his left knee injury in November, Stokes has looked so physically fit, having lost 10kg, that it has been easy to forget that he is now 33. He looks after himself extremely well, whether in his training or gym-work, or the way he now balances the formats. He really picks and chooses his white-ball cricket now (what luck that he picked up this injury playing the Hundred?), turning down big IPL paydays and withdrawing from the T20 World Cup to focus on his primary task, leading the Test team. But he is now at the age where muscle injuries like these become increasingly common, and take longer to recover from. Many previous injuries across 100 Tests, all played at 100mph, do not help a jot.
Whether as the totemic leader or the side-balancing all-rounder, he remains their most important player for the Ashes down under, and this injury is a reminder that he will need nursing all the way there. Even after that serious operation, careful management may not be enough for him to make it.
Curran would be a classic Bazball pick. As they showed when plucking Moeen Ali from retirement to play in last year’s Ashes, or promoting Dan Lawrence to open, they will select who they believe to be the best attacking-minded players, regardless of recent experience. Form can be shown in white-ball cricket, and Curran has certainly done that; he has been the best player in this year’s Hundred by some distance, sitting seventh in the run-scoring charts and second in the wicket-taking table.
He has played just one first-class match in the last two years, but is a victim of the different directions the game pulls players now. If you want to be a white-ball regular for England and pick up the sort of IPL payday Curran commands (which are almost impossible to turn down), being available for the County Championship becomes very difficult. As he recovered from a back stress fracture, Curran played five matches in Surrey’s title win in 2022, and averaged 76 with the bat, including making his maiden first-class hundred.
Curran’s batting is much improved and, as he shown in the Hundred this year, he is a little like Stokes in that the more responsibility he is given, the better he does. Slotting in at No 7, between Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes, would seem to suit him.
England now tend to like to have just one seam bowler of less than 85mph in their attack at any one time. Stokes regularly hits those heights post-op, but Curran does not. He does provide variation, with his left-arm angle and ability to swing the old and new ball.
Curran has not played Test cricket since before that stress fracture in 2021. In his 24 games, he struggled for identity: is he a batting or bowling all-rounder? The cliche was that he had a happy knack for “making things happen”, breaking partnerships and playing cameos. Under Brendon McCullum’s liberating management, he could evolve into something more substantial, and be the closest England have to Stokes.
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