Ben Stokes’ biggest Ashes captaincy challenge? Managing Ben Stokes

You can just see it now. It’s the third day in Perth.

England, having selected Jofra Archer and Mark Wood for the first Test, find themselves down a man after one or maybe even both of them pull up. At the end of his run-up stands Ben Stokes, ready to bowl the 15th over of his spell.

The decision to retire James Anderson and Stuart Broad’s voluntary withdrawal has brought a new look to this Ashes series for England’s bowlers.

The visitors head to Australia with a line-up that has just 109 Tests between them, Mitchell Starc is nine short of that by himself.

If the team is notably youthful, it is also notably fragile. Mark Wood is the most experienced figure but has struggled to stay injury free and underwent surgery on a knee issue earlier this year.

Jofra Archer’s workload in the 2019 Ashes saw him out of the Test side for four years. If Shoaib Bashir is picked for Perth, it will be his first Test in four months.

On paper and injury free, England’s attack is an exciting one with plenty of pace but when those cracks inevitably begin to appear, it is one man that has often filled them.

Playing through pain has pretty much become Ben Stokes’ MO at this point. In the summer Tests against India, he suffered a grade-three tear in his shoulder and still considered carrying on but only with bat rather than ball.

His feats in the 2019 World Cup Final and then at Headingley that same summer were a test of the human body and mind played out in front of tens of thousands of spectators. At 34, Stokes is unlikely to enter a pitch free from all pain but there is no question that even half fit, he will want to continue.

In the summer series against India, Stokes bowled the joint-fifth most overs despite playing a game less. The problem for England and those looking to manage his workload is that Stokes was the home side’s best and most consistent bowlers.

Increasingly, the bowling of Stokes has been England’s ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card, a chance to change things up when the options look set in and Stokes’ competitiveness has meant he and the team have drawn from that well perhaps too often than they should have.

An Ashes series demands that kind of sacrifice and England will inevitably be faced with challenges to overcome but when the man who wants to continue to help his country is also the man in charge of ensuring everyone stays fresh, there is an obvious internal conflict.

The weight of the England captaincy weighs heavy on whoever is the incumbent. Three years have passed since Joe Root captained England Down Under and yet he somehow looks younger, as if giving up the captaincy was the best skincare routine you could have hoped for.

Stokes has already had his taste of the extra duties and pressure that come with being an Ashes captain, but this is his first away from home, in front of a crowd baying for blood.

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No doubt Stokes can shoulder such a challenge and his Headingley performance has made him an Aussie boogeyman, but it is easy to see a future where Australia are 250-2 and England are beginning to look desperate. At that moment, Stokes must be thinking of the long-term and not just the session ahead.

All-rounders are not often selected for captains because of this reason. Aside from short spells from Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, you would have to go back to the 1980s and Mike Gatting to find a genuine all-rounder in charge of the team.

Every player to have made that England team has done so off the back of a self-belief that has willed them to the top. If England need a hero, why would Stokes or any other player shirk the opportunity?

The rewards are obvious but the risks should also be just as apparent. If, in a situation all England fans dread, the team are down in the first Test, Stokes and Brendan McCullum should recognise that losing the battle does not mean losing the war.

The risk with pushing Stokes through the pain barrier is the exact scenario that played out in the summer, his shoulder broke down and he missed the final Test. England’s side isn’t short of options but losing either Stokes or Root does feel a significant blow.

Stokes would not be the first England captain to feel he has to carry the team on his back. In the last series Down Under, Root was the only England batter in the top five run-scorers but Stokes is fortunate to have a far stronger team at his disposal than Root did.

The once-fragile batting line-up has been replaced by a yin and yang opening partnership that works and while No.3 may still be up for debate, every batter that comes in after that is in good form and has shown themselves to be more than competent at the crease.

Bowling-wise, it may be a little less strong but England do have options.

It is up to Stokes to use those options and resist the temptation to believe that only he can save the team.

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