Ben Stokes insists England are not 'stuck in their ways' ahead of crucial third Test against India at Lord's - with Jofra Archer set to return to Test cricket for the first time in four years

Ben Stokes is only two Tests into the 10 that will shape the legacy of Bazball, but his England team are already facing a moment that feels dangerously close to make or break.

Beat India in the third Test starting on Thursday at Lord’s, and they will re-establish the lead they earned so thrillingly at Headingley. 

Lose, against a buoyant touring team who are welcoming back their spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, and the questions raised during the first two games will grow more urgent. The Ashes are fast approaching, but England’s day of reckoning may arrive even sooner.

As ever, Stokes himself is the yardstick by which much else is measured, with his ageing body and sketchy batting form both under scrutiny. Asked to assess both aspects, he replied: ‘Good – and good.’

His response half-recalled the former Russian president Boris Yeltsin’s reply to John Major, who had asked about the state of his country’s economy. ‘Good,’ said Yeltsin. When Major asked him to elaborate, Yeltsin replied: ‘Not good.’ 

Stokes, whose first-ball duck in England’s first innings at Edgbaston was part of the collapse that ultimately cost them the match, has the next few days to let his bat do the elaborating. 

If not, the calls to swap places with Jamie Smith at No 7 will get louder.

At 34, the England captain remains an imposing physical presence. His recovery from hamstring surgery in January has gone well, and at times this summer he has looked his team’s best bowler. 

Yet for all the focus on Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, it is Stokes – statistically, at least – who has become the weak link in the top seven. Since the start of 2024, he has averaged 26, four fewer than Crawley and 11 adrift of Pope. 

And he doesn’t even have the excuse of trying to force the pace: Stokes’s strike-rate in that time is 63, lower than all the batsmen bar Joe Root, who has been averaging 53.

It is two years now since he produced one of his specials, a murderous 155 against Australia at Lord’s that briefly gave England a sniff of chasing 371. 

More often than not, he looks shocked when his latest innings is prematurely nipped in the bud, as the Indian cricket Twittersphere has gleefully noted. 

The last day at Edgbaston, where he was pinned in front on the stroke of lunch by an unusual amount of drift from off-spinner Washington Sundar, was a case in point.

Yet as much as Stokes’ batting, his tactics have also been under the spotlight like never before.

Exhibit A was the decision to bowl at Headingley, where India somehow lost from a position on the second day of 430 for three. Exhibit B was the decision to push his luck at Edgbaston, where India responded with 587.

Stokes argued that conditions last week changed from cloudy at the toss to sunny when India’s openers walked out, although everyone in Birmingham had seen the forecast, which suggested a day for batting. And it left Stokes insisting England were not dogmatic in their approach.

‘Just because we’ve had good success at chasing down totals in the fourth innings, it doesn’t mean that’s our preference,’ he said. 

‘What we’re faced with at half ten is a massive consideration for what we’re going to do if we win the toss. There’s nothing to say we are stuck in our ways. When I get the whites out with the blazer on, I look up to the sky more than anything. It’s not rocket science.’

With that in mind, England are said to be pleased with the conditions that have greeted them here, with 5mm of grass providing a greenish tinge that may yet encourage Stokes to bowl first again if he wins his third toss of the series.

Whether England’s selection will give them the best chance of exploiting any assistance is another matter. 

Having considered as many as three changes to their seam line-up, they have settled on one, replacing Josh Tongue with Jofra Archer. And that means sticking with the bulk of an attack that has so far allowed India to rack up 1,849 runs, a record for the first two Tests of a series.

With Gus Atkinson’s return from hamstring trouble deferred once more, and Jamie Overton narrowly missing out, the upshot is a reprieve for both Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse, who between them have taken nine wickets in two games at 67 apiece. 

For all his previous excellence at Lord’s, Woakes looked all of his 36 years at Edgbaston, while Carse is struggling to find boots that fit him. Both have a point to prove.

It feels almost futile pointing out that Shoaib Bashir has been expensive this series, both in terms of cost per wicket and runs per over, since England have nailed their spin-bowling colours to his mast. Neither does it come as a shock that there is still no room for Jacob Bethell.

Meanwhile, both sides must contend with ongoing dissatisfaction at the Dukes balls, which have been going out of shape more quickly than usual and prompted regular on-field requests from Stokes and Shubman Gill for a replacement. 

Certainly, bowling with the older ball has proved harder than usual, with Harry Brook – who yesterday climbed above Joe Root to the top of the Test rankings – and Jamie Smith adding 303 at Edgbaston.

India’s vice-captain Rishabh Pant added to the grumbles. ‘The ball is getting de-shaped too much,’ he said. ‘That has never happened before.’

And he described the fact that batsmen have to adjust each time a replacement is brought out as ‘definitely irritating’. He added: ‘As soon as they change the ball, it starts to do enough. I feel it’s not good for cricket.’

Dilip Jajodia, who runs the Dukes factory in north-east London, has responded indignantly, telling an Indian newspaper that the problem with the balls may be related to ‘the cowhide we’re receiving’ from the Scottish highlands. The whole episode risks becoming a farce.

It all adds up to a ticklish time for Archer to make his Test return after a four-and-a-half-year absence in which his red-ball future often looked slim to non-existent. 

Stokes sounded aghast at the idea that England would rush him back before he was ready, and praised his commitment to a format he could easily have rejected altogether in favour of the T20 franchise circuit.

Earlier in the summer, before the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, Archer WhatsApped Stokes with ‘Zim?’ 

This time, Stokes messaged Archer to ask if he was ready, and received the gnomic reply: ‘Been ready.’

Archer’s readiness at a ground where he has enjoyed some of his finest moments in an England shirt will be music to his captain’s ears. And it may prove the quickest route to ending Gill’s purple patch, which has so far produced 585 runs.

‘Very good players are allowed to play well, and he has played very well in the first two games,’ said Stokes. 

If Gill is saying something similar about Stokes by the end of the series, England’s Bazball project may yet remain on track. But the line they are treading is almost too fine for comfort.

The Lord’s pitch was flecked with green on the eve of the Test, and the decision at the toss may depend on overhead conditions. But good weather is expected throughout, with temperatures regularly touching 30 degrees.