Ashes 2023: Michael Vaughan believes Ben Stokes ‘will go down as England’s greatest ever captain’

London: Former England captain Michael Vaughan has praised Ben Stokes for his leadership of the Test team and believes the all-rounder has got the potential to become one of the greatest leaders in the side’s cricketing history.

Under Stokes’ captaincy, England bounced back from being 2-0 down to drawing 2-2 with Australia in a remarkable turnaround in the recently-concluded Ashes series, which ended with the hosts’ winning by 49 runs at The Oval.

England could have easily won the series 3-2 if the Manchester Test, where they dominated majorly, hadn’t ended in a draw due to rain. “He’s only been doing the job for 14 months but already he is right up there among England’s greatest ever captains. I think in time he will be hailed as England’s greatest ever Test captain.”

“When you have that conversation, of course you’re thinking about Test match victories — and as captain Stokes has now won 13 out of 18 Tests, which is incredible. But you’re also thinking about a deeper impact. I think in time Stokes will be remembered as the captain who helped changed the way Test cricket is played — and that surely is the perfect legacy,” wrote Vaughan in his column for The Telegraph.

He went on to add that Stokes will be remembered in future as a skipper who tried to change the way Test cricket was played, with the players he had in the team. “In 10 years’ time, Stokes wants people to say England changed the game and got people playing in a certain way. The way they have gone about things this summer he’s got every chance.”

“This Ashes has ended up as a 2-2 draw, but of the two captains there are going to be far more questions about Pat Cummins’ method than Stokes’. It’s very clear what Stokes is trying to achieve. Right now, he wants to get the best out of all the talent that England have, and make them all think about how good they can be.”

England’s next Test assignment after the Ashes is a five-match series trip to India from January 25 to March 11 next year, with Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamshala being the venues.

Vaughan expects England to continue playing their ultra-attacking game under Stokes’ leadership during the Test series in India. “England will play in the same way in India when they play their next Test, in January. For a team without a mystery spinner, getting 20 wickets in India will always be a challenge. I guess that’s the ultimate test.”

“They did that in Pakistan. I would say they would give it a good go in India. They’ll get scores quickly because that’s what they do — they bat so quickly that they only need to bat for 50 or 60 overs to be well in the game.”

–IANS