Cricket: Ben Stokes and Sam Curren’s quality goes beyond statistics

Algorithms and talismans seem to be England’s way to winning the T20 World Cup, which means following the data but also keeping faith in ‘big moment’ stars like Ben Stokes and Sam Curran.

Stokes’ T20 stats do not stand out as they do in other formats yet Jos Buttler, England’s white-ball captain, seems to be forming the team’s challenge around him. In the build-up so far, Stokes has opened the bowling and batted at four, roles he probably wouldn’t have given himself had he been in charge.

Sentiment does not tend to feature much in modern sport but part of this may be to give Stokes, one of the country’s most selfless cricketers, a chance of redemption following the 2016 final against the West Indies where he failed to defend 18 when bowling the final over. The rest is general admiration for a man whose belief in the possible is simply greater than everybody else’s.

Stokes embraces tough challenges which T20 throws up quicker and more frequently than other formats. So, too, does Sam Curran, another who is yet to stand out, figures-wise, in England’s T20 team.

What both possess, and this is less measurable than other talents, is an ultra-competitive spirit which makes them more likely than others to deliver under extreme pressure.

Which is why Curran appears to have been given the responsibility of bowling the death overs, a role where holding one’s nerve is as important as one’s variations.

That Buttler has faith in them and their ability to process pressure, no doubt stems from having seen both of them play regularly in the Indian Premier League. Before he retired as white-ball captain, Eoin Morgan paid extra heed to England players who excelled in IPL, a trend Buttler seems to have continued.

One caveat to that IPL grounding will be the conditions in Australia where the tournament is being held. It is early season there and pitches are likely to be very different to those on the sub-continent. Indeed, there have already been a few shock results in the qualifying rounds after Scotland beat West Indies and Namibia defeated Sri Lanka.

Australian grounds tend to have big boundaries, which gives spinners, and indeed all bowlers, a better chance of taking wickets with mis-hits.

This is an International Cricket Council event, though, and boundaries may remain
small and standardised, which would be a shame. As one former England spinnerturned-coach lamented recently about bowling under such circumstances: ‘It annoys the hell out of me that I could get it 90 per cent right and the batsmen could get it ten per cent right and the ball still goes for six.’

Spin is an area of concern for England. Adil Rashid had become the team’s most reliable bowler especially in the middle overs, keeping run-rates steady while posing a wicket-taking threat. But a series of shoulder injuries has seen the 34-year-old’s action lose its snap and batsmen are finding his variations – leg-break,
front-of-hand slider and googly – less challenging, which has seen his runs-per-over metric rise accordingly.

Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone are both spinnners although neither tends bowl a full complement of overs like Rashid. Wickets are the best way to quell an opponent’s ardour. With the new ball that could come from unleashing left-arm swingers like Reece Topley and David Willey or the right-arm Chris Woakes, although probably not all three.

If fit, Mark Wood would then hit a hard length in the middle overs alongside Rashid and Stokes with Curran and Topley, 5ft 8in and 6ft 7in respectively, taking care of the death overs. Bowling at the end when batsmen try to hit everything for six used to be Chris Jordan’s speciality, but he played just one of England’s last ten T20 matches before yesterday’s warm-up, which suggests he is no longer first-choice.

England’s main strength lies with their batting and, in Buttler, they possess one of the greats of the genre. With no Jonny Bairstow, missing due to his broken leg, Alex Hales has returned to open along side the skipper to reasonable fanfare. After them comes Dawid Malan, Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen and Curran with Phil Salt and Livingstone in reserve, at least for the moment.

England are in Group A which comprises New Zealand and Afghanistan along with hosts and current holders Australia, whom they have just beaten twice in the warm-up games to give them some timely confidence. Group B contains India, Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh.

Both groups will each be swelled by two teams from the qualifying rounds. England’s first match is against Afghanistan in Perth on Saturday, while their next meeting with Australia is on October 28 at the MCG.

Buttler’s team are second favourites to win the tournament after the Aussies, home advantage presumably counting for something. But England have good
variety in their bowling and real firepower in the batting, so have an excellent chance of adding to the T20 title they won in 2010.

As ever, it will come down to one or two crunch points, especially in the knockout stage, which England hope troubleshooters like Stokes and Curran can help them to surmount. Do that and there is no reason the trophy cannot be theirs.

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