Skipper Ben Stokes, who promoted himself to the top of the order as England needed just 82 runs to win the Edgbaston Test, struck the fastest fifty in Test cricket by an England player – the joint third quickest overall- as the hosts raced to the target in 7.2 overs to pocket a 10-wicket triumph inside eight sessions. Stokes finished unbeaten on 57 off 28 as England whitewashed West Indies in a Test series for the fourth time, all at home.
Brendon McCullum and Stokes’ championship of BazBall was evident in the way the England talisman went about his business in the fourth innings. Notably, it was not long ago that Stokes his fastest ODI century. England were in a pickle at 13/2 in the third ODI against New Zealand in London when Ben Stokes, the all-rounder tailor-made for crunch moments, embarked on the repair job along with Dawid Malan. He steadied the innings a bit before breaking the shackles to reach his fourth ODI hundred off just 76 deliveries.
It was just his third game coming out of retirement and this was his second fifty-plus score on return. The tremendous tenacity Stokes possesses was on display as he turned things around for England after Trent Boult made a mockery of the English top-order for the second game in a row.
Stokes will feature in the 2024 edition of the Hundred for four matches. He will represent the Northern Superchargers, the team based in Leeds. Due to him taking over captaincy of the Test team in 2022, Stokes has not played a single game in the Hundred since the first edition in 2021 when he had made two appearances.
He suffered a panic attack the morning after his most recent outing in the competition, which came at Trent Bridge in July 2021, when he collapsed on the floor of his hotel bathroom. It was depicted in Phoenix from the Ashes, Stokes’ documentary, and prompted him to take an extended break from the game later that year.
The Superchargers had a forgetful campaign in 2023, finishing with the wooden spoon as they managed to win just two out of their eight matches. They would hope Stokes’ inclusion during the group stage would propel them towards higher honours.
England were engaged in a three match Test series against the West Indies, and hence the rest of the players in the Test squad, selected for the Hundred will be available for their respective sides after the series concluded on 30 July.
Matthew Potts, Gus Atkinson and Dillon Pennington selected in the squads will play only after keeping a keen eye on their workload management while Chris Woakes will participate from 6 August.
The Hundred is scheduled to start on 23 July with defending champions Oval Invincibles taking on Birmingham Phoenix at the Kennington Oval in London.
