England Captain Ben Stokes talks about how bowlers are learning from Jimmy Andersons technique as he begins to mentors England bowlers, Woods coming into the team and facing the West Indies
17/07/2024
Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham, UK
17/07/2024
Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham, UK
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00:00Where do you think you can improve here?
00:09Well, I think, obviously, there was a very, very good team performance. And for us tonight,
00:17obviously, we want to go out there and perform, you know, to at least the same level, if not
00:23better. You know, when you dominate a game like we did last week, obviously, it's hard
00:27to look back and go, like, where could we improve? But, no, I was really happy with
00:34how everything went last week. But, obviously, we're always looking to put in better performances
00:40as we go on. But, yes, if we can perform better as a team than we did last week, then I think
00:45we'll be in pretty good shape this week.
00:46You've seen the West Indies fight back before, haven't you? Are you wary of that? Could there
00:52be a backlash from that?
00:54Well, you're always wary of your opposition. We know that West Indies are a very, very
01:00proud team and we've always had competition against them. So, obviously, last week, we're
01:08not taking for granted, we're not taking into consideration how the rest of the series is
01:12going to go. Because, you know, international sport, as good as it is, it's also a great
01:17leveller. So, we know that we can't take how last week played out for us into what this
01:22week's going to offer.
01:23Mark Wood comes back into the side. Why have you opted for him over other bowlers that
01:28you've spoken to?
01:29Well, I think you look at the squad and, you know, we picked the best team that we felt
01:34the best 11 out of the squad. So, you look at the way Gus bowled last week, not only
01:40with his 12 wickets, but, obviously, finding another bowler who can bowl between 87-90mph,
01:49it was very exciting to have the prospect of seeing Gus Atkinson running at one end
01:53and Mark Wood at the other. But Woody had an unbelievable summer last year in the Ashes.
01:58He was a massive player for us when he came into the team, huge impact. Everyone knows
02:03why, because of his pace. And, yeah, he's in the squad and we picked the best 11.
02:10James Anderson, life after James Anderson, beginning of life with James Anderson now
02:14in his mentoring role. How's that begun? How have you found his input?
02:19Yeah, I think the last two days have been really good. You can see that the lads are
02:25really, really desperate to pick his brains. Obviously, before that, it's been a bit different
02:29because Jimmy's been preparing and has done, always prepared for his game. So, it's sort
02:33of like, let him do his stuff and try and pick his brains as much as he can. That feels
02:38appropriate. But now, obviously, he's standing there and you can just see the lads are just
02:43drawn towards him and wanting to pick his brains about what he thinks, how he holds
02:47certain deliveries. And, yeah, I think it's been a very, very smooth transition. But there's
02:52no doubt there's still emotion with Jimmy because it's only been a week. But, yeah,
02:57I think with him still being around the team and knowing that... I think he knows that
03:02he's still got so much more to offer English cricket, in particular with the ball. Yeah,
03:06I couldn't think of a better bloke to be able to pass on the knowledge of fast bowling
03:10to the guys we have at the moment.
03:11And finally for me, how does Ben Duckett understand his partner's expecting? Do you have a plan
03:17in case that happens tomorrow morning?
03:23Yeah, well, I think there's a plan in place with Ben and his partner. It's one of those
03:30things where we'll just sort of have to make a decision if it was to happen before the
03:35game started and we were batting, for example. But if anything happens throughout the Test
03:40match, then Ben will go and then just come back into the team. I think he's obviously
03:44incredibly desperate to play this Test match because it's his home ground. But the message
03:48from me and Baz is just, look, in these situations, family always comes first. So whatever decision
03:53you end up making, you know that you'll get mine and Baz's full support. But, yeah,
03:57at the moment he's obviously in the team to play.
04:00If, yeah, worst case, well, that doesn't sound, you know what I mean? Yeah.
04:19No, no, I see it as an opportunity for someone like Chris Wokes to take on, you know, a more
04:26of a, I guess, a leadership role in terms of the bowling unit. Wokesy's a very experienced
04:31bowler, very experienced player. Obviously, we've been so used to Jimmy and Brodie doing
04:36that, but now we don't have that. But I see that as a great opportunity for Wokesy. Phenomenal
04:41performer, in particular in England, and great for him now to be able to lead the attack.
04:46Obviously, myself, I've always had quite a lot of input in there, speaking to the bowlers,
04:51what I think as well, because I'm a bowler as well. So, no, look, I just see this as
04:56a great opportunity for someone else to be able to stand up and be that person.
04:59Wokesy's 50th cap as well, and I mean, over the weekend, he's not put a clock on himself
05:05and said that he was throwing forward and looking at the future challenges ahead of
05:09it. Is that how you see him getting his chance and it's all blended in terms of going through
05:14and stuff like that?
05:15Yeah, definitely. You know, 50 caps is a huge honour for someone. You know, it's a lot of
05:20games, it's a lot of test matches played for your country. And yeah, look, I've seen Wokesy
05:26say the other day, you know, how much Stuart and Jimmy improved as they got older and older.
05:30So, you know, if he's taken that mindset into wanting to always improve, even if he is getting
05:35older and older, I guess that's what everyone's mindset is. But no, you know, 50 caps, unbelievable
05:42achievement and, you know, rightly deserves applauders tomorrow when he gets that cap.
05:46You didn't play the last one, but when you went 22, that was a game that really forged
05:54the identity that you guys wanted to build this team around. There's only four survivors
06:00from that game. Has that surprised you, a sort of a great change of identity?
06:05Didn't know that, thanks. Oh, look, I think that's two years ago. You know, as I said
06:13last week, you know, two years is a long time for progression. And that's what I want
06:20this team to be focused on. Obviously, it is about the here and now and the challenges
06:26that we've got in front of us. But as long as we're still looking to progress, then,
06:30you know, that's a great mindset to have. And sometimes progression does mean that teams
06:34and squads will change. But, you know, two years is a long time for things to change.
06:39Will?
06:40Ben, have you decided who among you, Mark and Gus will take the new ball?
06:46Yeah, Gus and Wojcik are taking the new ball.
06:50It's not that much of a start, is it? What do you see in him in that role?
07:00Yeah, it was, like I said last week, the first time I saw Gus live was all the way back in
07:05the World Cup in India. And he just had all the attributes of a very, very good bowler.
07:12I think a lot of it is probably to do with the Duke's ball as well, with how it's behaved.
07:15There's not actually been that much movement in the air with the ball. It's generally been,
07:19you know, off the surface, you know, hitting the seam. And I think Gus is a very, very
07:24good exponent of that. And then as it gets to sort of 10, 12 overs, you start to get
07:29a, you know, buff on one side and that's when it really starts to swing. So, you know, that's
07:34obviously where sort of me and Woody can come in and Woody bowling at 94 mile an hour
07:38with the ball swinging is going to be tough for anyone.
07:41Julian, how have you finished with Stockton?
07:43Yeah, I'm a bit. West Indiana obviously only had the one warm-up game. I mean, from your
07:49experience in touring, just how hard is it to sort of hit the ground right when you've
07:53got sort of minimal preparation like that and conditions you're not used to?
07:58We had to deal with that in India. Have we had enough game time, match press? I think,
08:07you know, that was taken from how it was a long time ago. Cricket's completely different
08:12now. There's so much played all over the world, you know, franchise cricket or whatever it
08:18may be, that it is very tough to find a good preparation and build-up window for any team.
08:26Yeah, I think it's just going with the times really. I'm sure everyone would, you know,
08:32want to do things the way that they feel is best necessary for the team. And, you know,
08:36we're a team who feel that we gel together when we're training together and putting input
08:42into each other as opposed to spending too much time out on the field in warm-up games
08:47because, you know, everyone likes to get good quality in training and nets and whatever
08:51it may be. But you do feel like sometimes you need a day in the dirt just to get your
08:55legs and the body used to it again. But, yeah, I think nowadays there's a few too many
09:02comments from people who were obviously playing when that was the sort of norm, if that makes
09:07sense. But it's always down to what the team and the people who were in charge to make
09:13those decisions feel is best for that team to get into a series.
09:17Thank you. Chris, how close was Devin Nettlesman to a debut this week?
09:23Yeah, you know, we obviously consider everyone in the squad. No one's in the squad here just,
09:29you know, for a jolly, if that makes sense. But I think when you get someone like, you
09:35know, Woody back into your squad, it's too hard to look past that. You look at the summer
09:41he had last year and the impact that he had in England. And he's, you know, he's one of
09:46our best bowlers and there'll be opportunities for Dylan, no doubt, in the summer. But at
09:52this moment in time, Woody makes it into our Strongest XI.
09:55Thank you. Ben, you sit there, we'll do a riddle as well.