England captain Ben Stokes is delighted with his side’s win over Zimbabwe in the One-off Test, as the home side gears up for the upcomng 5-match Test series against India starting this June.
READ HERE: Shoaib Bashir Stars With Historic Figures As England Thump Zimbabwe In One-Off Test
After the match, the legendary all-rounder provided an update on his fitness, as the 33-year-old is a key figure for England in their upcoming hectic schedule, as they embark their WTC 2025-27 cycle.
Here’s What Ben Stokes Said After The Match
“It was good to get the summer off to winning ways. A slow start for us but we were great from the last session onwards.”
“[On Crawley’s innings] You walk out there and play for England, you know every game is important. The context of Jacob Bethell was me saying that he’s going to come back in the squad. For Zak and Pope and Duckett to go out there. The way we wanted to enforce ourselves on the game.”
“When Zak and Ben get going like that, they’re very hard to bowl for. Sometimes as a number 3 when you sit there with your pads on for such a long time, I don’t know what it feels but for Pope to go there and continue that momentum and play that way was exceptional and Pope is a massive part of the team.”
“He’s my vice-captain. He’s in a really responsible leadership role. He’s been incredible for this team at number 3 since we game him the responsibility.”
“Everyone who has come under the microscope from the outside has done pretty well. We’ve got a nice gap between the India series. Let’s just appreciate the knocks from the three. They were all fantastic.”
“[On playing himself for the Lions] No everything feels good with the bat. It was just good to get out there and mark center again. A long time away from the game, I had the Lions game sort of something filtering in the background that I felt like I needed anymore game time.”
“But it was more to do with the bowling but today I felt really good compared to yesterday with the ball so really pleased to be able to get some overs under the belt. The rhythm and everything felt great today. Rest for me is just as important as ever because we have big 10 Tests coming up. The big 5 again start with India.”
“[Injury playing on his mind] It will still take time. It’s a pretty traumatic thing for the body to go through having a surgery. I’ve worked hard here to be able to do what I did this week so massive confidence boost. We have 2-3 weeks of break that we’ve got before we meet up again and work just as hard as I have done.”
“[On Shoaib Bashir] Sometimes we can take the words for granted that we fill Bash up with in terms of the positivity and backing him. Being a 20-year old, the way he came out and asserted himself into the game with the ball in the 1st innings was exceptional and he continued that here.”
“He knows he’s got the backing of the dressing room, of myself and on a wicket that wasn’t really offering that much towards spin, to walk off with 9-fer is just exceptional. Going strength-to-strength. He is learning obviously getting to bowl at some of the best batters in the world on a daily basis. Working with Jeetan Patel, everything is going upwards for him. Super excited that he has walked off here with a man of the match.”
“We were a little bit slow to get into the game with the ball but that can be understandable. It’s been a long time since we’ve been together and getting used to the rhythm of Test cricket can sometimes sort of take it’s time. After the 1st session we were very good from then. It’s a different intensity when you get out there compared to whatever the guys have done beforehand.”
“Happy how we finished the game off with the ball.”
