Regular opener Emilio Gay was trotting off the field, towards the dressing room to put his pads on, when Stokes chased after him for a quiet word. That’s how pub teams decide who’s opening, not serious test sides. Stokes, who has done so much for England, is leaving a dose of chaos as he exits.
England’s cricketers have often taken their lead from Stokes (who slapped 30 runs off 20), and the batters did so again in his final innings, joining in the ramp-shot festivities of the former skipper’s farewell party. Harry Brooks went hardest (21 off 9).
Facing an unlikely target of 373 with a day-and-a-bit to chase it, England’s top order approached the difficult task of test cricket survival with a mindset seemingly locked in a T20 scramble, or distracted by the need to wrap things up so they could get to happy hour at The White Horse pub in Parson’s Green.
It didn’t have to be this way. Against a Black Caps bowling outfit that was without its two frontline bowlers, Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson, and further weakened by injury during the match, England could have chosen to build a platform. Instead, they indulged the Stokes circus.
A win might have seemed unlikely, but a serious cricket team – one with serious Ashes ambitions – would at least attempt it.
Ben Stokes (left) and Daryl Mitchell. Photos / Getty Images, Photosport
The perfect contrast to Stokes’ odd behaviour (and that of the batters who followed him) was offered by New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell. The Kiwi came to the crease in the third innings with his side three down for 51; by the time he had scored his century and the innings closed, 237 runs had been added, largely through Mitchell’s doggedness.
Between lunch and tea, Mitchell scored just 16 runs, and wore many other deliveries on his bruised body.
Where Mitchell brought calm, Stokes brought chaos.
The Ashes is everything to English cricket. Every series against a side who are not Australia is viewed through the prism of “Ashes preparation” (or, more likely, “Ashes recovery”). Events at Trent Bridge in the past 24 hours have done no help to England’s chances of winning next year’s series at home. They’ll miss their great allrounder for sure, and they’ll waste energy tidying up the detritus and making sense of the mess from his farewell.
There will likely be mitigating circumstances bubbling away behind the scenes of Stokes’ announcement. The autobiographies of former cricketers – more than retired athletes from any other sporting code – are legendary for score-settling and firing late shots. When the events from within the England camp over the past month make their way into print, there should be some juicy reading.
Regardless, Stokes’ unseemly rush to a final limelight, and the chaos in which it leaves his team, does him no credit.