England captain Ben Stokes‘ decision to declare the first innings in the recently concluded first Ashes 2023 Test match against Australia at Edgbaston has divided the cricketing fraternity. The fact that one solitary decision is alluring verdicts ranging between stupendous and stupid is enough a hint regarding the whole gamut of the topic. That said, if former England captain Michael Vaughan is to be believed, the English captain won’t declare prematurely in a similar position at Lord’s.
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A declaration decision taken on the first day of the match went on to torment England in the last 30 minutes of the fifth day according to critics of Stokes and Bazball. On the contrary, supporters of the decision have expressed gratitude towards Stokes for his valorous choice allowed the match to be remembered for ages. Had Stokes not declared abruptly on Friday, we might’ve witnessed an ordinary draw on Tuesday.
Michael Vaughan Guarantees Ben Stokes Won’t Declare Prematurely At Lord’s
Vaughan, who had stated at the time that he wouldn’t have declared the innings at 393/8 in 78 overs with a well-set Joe Root batting on 118*, laid emphasis on how another 30-40 runs could’ve saved England from trailing by 0-1 in a five-match series.
Even though Vaughan exclaimed at first about England providing “first punch” on Day 1, he guaranteed that Stokes would want to let his batters bat before taking such a bold decision as early as the first day of a Test during a post-match assessment with Test Match Special yesterday.
“Those 30 or 40 runs. If you‘d have asked Ben Stokes this morning, ‘Would you have liked Joe [Root] to have got another 30 on that Day 1, you’ve now got them in the bank?’ Of course he would. I guarantee if England are in the same position in the first innings at Lord’s next week, Ben Stokes won’t declare!”
For the unversed, around a day’s play was washed out due to rain across two days in the match. Irrespective of which side of the debate one is at, there’s no hiding to the fact that the match wouldn’t have been this engrossing had England continued to bat under an orthodox setting. What such a tense finish has also done is ensure a solid build-up for the second Test starting from June 28.
Ben Stokes Justifies Declaration On Day 1
Stokes, meanwhile, provided rationale for his move with some 20 minutes left in the day’s play on Day 1. Speaking to host broadcaster Sky Sports Cricket during the post-match presentation ceremony, Stokes disclosed that he was eyeing a couple of early Australian wickets in the four overs that England bowled that evening.
“That was an opportunity to pounce on Australia. No batsman likes to go out for 20 minutes at the end of the day, and I sensed an opportunity to take two wickets.”
Australian opening batters David Warner and Usman Khawaja, however, not only managed to survive those first four overs but also the first six overs on the following day before the former was dismissed by veteran English pacer Stuart Broad for the 15th time in his career.
