"Not the guy you want to fire up, he will tear you apart" - Ollie Robinson on how Bairstow stumping riled Ben Stokes at Lord's
England fast bowler Ollie Robinson was effusive in his praise for skipper Ben Stokes' sensational knock against Australia in the second Test at Lord's. The hosts lost the match by 43 runs going down 2-0 in the five-match series.
Stokes kept the hosts' steep chase of 371 runs with his blistering shots in the afternoon of the final day. He scored 155 off 214 balls, hammering nine sixes and as many boundaries before being caught by Alex Carey off a Josh Hazlewood in-ducker.
England were eventually bowled out for 327 in the second innings as Australia went 2-0 in the Ashes 2023. In his column in Wisden, Ollie Robinson wrote about Ben Stokes' breathtaking knock:
"We were all watching Broady at one end getting stuck into the Aussies and watching Stokesy at the other end whacking it all over the place. Before Stokesy goes into bat he’s always the same person. It wasn’t until the Jonny incident when I thought, he is really not the guy you want to fire up, because he will tear you apart."
He added:
"And for an hour or so you saw the Aussies lose the plot a little bit, they really didn’t know what to do or where to bowl. That’s the power and the impact that Stokesy has on the cricket field. It’s a shame that he couldn’t get us all the way but it was still one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen in my life."
Ben Duckett was the only other England batter to cross the 20-run mark in the match, scoring 83 off 112 balls.
"That was definitely better than the knock he played at Headingley" - Ollie Robinson on Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes pulled off a miracle at Headingley against Australia four years ago in the 2019 Ashes. He was unbeaten on 135 as England chased 359, which is their highest chase against Australia in Tests.
Ben Stokes was involved in an unbroken 76-run stand with Jack Leach for the 10th wicket, with the latter's contribution just one run from 17 balls. Comparing the England all-rounder's two monumental Ashes knocks between Headingley and Lord's, Robinson wrote:
"That was definitely better than the knock he played at Headingley. The way he commanded the whole innings was incredible. I don’t think we will ever see another cricketer like that for a long time."
England will return to Headingley to take on Australia for the third Ashes Test on Thursday, July 6. The hosts need to overturn the 2-0 deficit to reclaim the Ashes for the first time since 2015.