Stop Stokes and you stop England in ‘battle of intriguing captains’

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Justin Langer believes Australia must keep Ben Stokes quiet with bat and ball to create a “ripple effect” through the England team and win them the Ashes.

Stokes heads into his first Ashes series as captain facing fitness doubts as he manages chronic tendonitis in his left knee that has limited his ability to bowl in recent months. He bowled at England training on Tuesday, building hope that he will be able to play full part as an all-rounder.

Langer will write exclusively for London’s Daily Telegraph throughout what he describes as a “mouthwatering” series and appears on the latest episode of Vaughany and Tuffers’ Cricket Club podcast, which is released on Wednesday.

The Ashes-winning captain and coach believes that Australia silencing Stokes, who was a thorn in their side throughout the drawn 2019 series, will go a long way to helping them retain the Ashes and would continue a tradition that the tourists have deployed in the past.

“It’s a battle of two intriguing captains,” said Langer. “As Aussies, for as long as I’ve been playing the game the philosophy has been that you have to target the opposition captain. You have to get on top of the opposition captain as early as you can and keep him down. If you get on top of him, it has a ripple effect right through [the team].

“I’m not talking about the theatre, the hype and the talking, that’s all crap. I’m talking about getting on top through skill.

England captain Ben Stokes is the danger man, according to Justin Langer.Credit: Getty

“He is so important to the balance of England’s attack with his overs, especially without what you might call a specialist spinner in Moeen Ali, and I say that respectfully. Especially if the sun is out. The same with his batting. They have to get on top of Stokes with skill.

“You have to keep him out of the game, with runs and wickets.

“It will be the same if England do that to Pat Cummins — bat well to his bowling— because he’s so important to the team.”

Langer has admired the style England have played since Stokes took over last April, and admits he is not surprised that he has proved such a successful captain, winning 11 of his first 13 Tests in charge.

“He can win games with bat, ball and in [the] field … That is a rare talent, but he can do it.”

“All the great teams I’ve been involved in, and through the history of sport, the No.1 ingredient of the great teams is the captain,” he said. “It’s not a surprise to me with the way Ben Stokes plays and prepares [how he’s captained].

“He can win games with bat, ball and in [the] field, and he’s one of the boys. That is a rare talent, but he can do it.”

Langer appointed Stokes’ opposite number, Pat Cummins, and believes that his “calm, relaxed” approach will be vital to countering England’s ultra-aggressive approach.

“Down under we keep hearing all about Bazball,” he said. “We see the scores. I was commentating on the Aussie summer and we were watching England in Pakistan and we were saying “what the hell?!” They have got 500 in a day. We can’t wait to see it go up against what is a very seasoned bowling attack.”

Ben Stokes’ remarkable display at Headingley ensured Australia’s Ashes drought in England extended into a third decade.Credit: PA

Langer believes England will look to attack off-spinner Nathan Lyon, but says that will be much harder than it might appear.

“You hear ‘they are just going to smash Nathan Lyon’,” says Langer. “But I was watching this week and Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli [are facing him]. And I’m going, it’s not that easy to do. I think he could be the difference in the series. England don’t have a world-class spinner. That’s no disrespect to Moeen [Ali]. He’s a good offie, but he’s not Nathan Lyon.

“I never realised until I started coaching Australia how good a bowler Nathan Lyon is. He is a very, very good bowler. Hard to get away, and incredibly important to Australia. Not only does he take wickets, but he bowls a lot of overs and traditionally holds up one end.

“He has an amazing shape, coming over the top, just drifting it a little bit. He gets good bounce and is so accurate. He loves bowling, [he] practises so much.

“It’s been very dry over here. You can’t fake it with the wickets. Nature is nature, if the ball starts spinning I think Nathan Lyon has a huge part to play in this series.

Asked if Australia would target Moeen, Langer said: “They might. It depends how fit Stokesy is.

“In the last series in Australia for us it was an absolute strategy for us to attack Jack Leach. We hoped they would play all seamers, which you can’t do. You have to have a spinner in Australia. We did it, and it put England under massive pressure.”

Telegraph, London

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