Ben Stokes 主張するs England are not 'stuck in their ways' ahead of 決定的な third 実験（する） against India at Lord's - with Jofra Archer 始める，決める to return to 実験（する） cricket for the first time in four years

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Ben Stokes is only two 実験（する）s into the 10 that will 形態／調整 the 遺産／遺物 of Bazball, but his England team are already 直面するing a moment that feels 危険に の近くに to make or break.

（警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 India in the third 実験（する） starting on Thursday at Lord’s, and they will re-設立する the lead they earned so thrillingly at Headingley.?

Lose, against a buoyant 小旅行するing team who are welcoming 支援する their spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, and the questions raised during the first two games will grow more 緊急の. The Ashes are 急速な／放蕩な approaching, but England’s day of reckoning may arrive even sooner.

As ever, Stokes himself is the 基準 by which much else is 手段d, with his ageing 団体／死体 and あらましの batting form both under scrutiny. Asked to 査定する／（税金などを）課す both 面s, he replied: ‘Good ? and good.’

His 返答 half-解任するd the former ロシアの 大統領，／社長 Boris Yeltsin’s reply to John Major, who had asked about the 明言する／公表する of his country’s economy. ‘Good,’ said Yeltsin. When Major asked him to (a)手の込んだ／(v)詳述する, Yeltsin replied: ‘Not good.’?

Stokes, whose first-ball duck in England’s first innings at Edgbaston was part of the 崩壊（する） that 最終的に cost them the match, has the next few days to let his bat do the (a)手の込んだ／(v)詳述するing.?

Jofra Archer will make his red-ball return at Lord's in what is his first 実験（する） match in four years?

Ben Stokes is only two 実験（する）s into the 10 that will 形態／調整 the 遺産／遺物 of Bazball, but his England team are already 直面するing a moment that feels 危険に の近くに to make or break

England were comprehensively beaten and outplayed by India in the s econd 実験（する） at Edgbaston

If not, the calls to 交換（する） places with Jamie Smith at No 7 will get louder.

At 34, the England captain remains an 課すing physical presence. His 回復 from hamstring 外科 in January has gone 井戸／弁護士席, and at times this summer he has looked his team’s best bowler.?

Yet for all the 焦点（を合わせる） on Zak Crawley and Ollie ローマ法王, it is Stokes ? statistically, at least ? who has become the weak link in the 最高の，を越す seven. Since the start of 2024, he has 普通の／平均（する）d 26, four より小数の than Crawley and 11 流浪して of ローマ法王.?

And he doesn’t even have the excuse of trying to 軍隊 the pace: Stokes’s strike-率 in that time is 63, lower than all the batsmen 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 Joe Root, who has been 普通の／平均（する）ing 53.

It is two years now since he produced one of his specials, a murderous 155 against Australia at Lord’s that 簡潔に gave England a 匂いをかぐ of chasing 371.?

More often than not, he looks shocked when his 最新の innings is 未熟に nipped in the bud, as the Indian cricket Twittersphere has gleefully 公式文書，認めるd.?

The last day at Edgbaston, where he was pinned in 前線 on the 一打／打撃 of lunch by an unusual 量 of drift from off-spinner Washington Sundar, was a 事例／患者 in point.

Yet as much as Stokes’ batting, his 策略 have also been under the スポットライト like never before.

Stokes has come in for 激しい 批評 for his batting 出資／貢献s since taking captaincy

Stokes' 回復 from hamstring 外科 in January has gone 井戸／弁護士席, and at times this summer he has looked his team’s best bowler - but he's become the weak link in the batting 顔触れ too

展示（する） A was the 決定／判定勝ち（する） to bowl at Headingley, where India somehow lost from a position on the second day of 430 for three. 展示（する） B was the 決定／判定勝ち（する） to 押し進める his luck at Edgbaston, where India 答える／応じるd with 587.

Stokes argued that 条件s last week changed from cloudy at the 投げ上げる／ボディチェックする to sunny when India’s openers walked out, although everyone in Birmingham had seen the 予測（する）, which 示唆するd a day for batting. And it left Stokes 主張するing England were not dogmatic in their approach.

‘Just because we’ve had good success at chasing 負かす／撃墜する totals in the fourth innings, it doesn’t mean that’s our preference,’ he said.?

‘What we’re 直面するd with at half ten is a 大規模な consideration for what we’re going to do if we 勝利，勝つ the 投げ上げる／ボディチェックする. 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 ロケット／急騰する science.’

With that in mind, England are said to be pleased with the 条件s that have 迎える／歓迎する ed them here, with 5mm of grass 供給するing a greenish tinge that may yet encourage Stokes to bowl first again if he 勝利，勝つs his third 投げ上げる／ボディチェックする of the series.

Whether England’s 選択 will give them the best chance of 偉業／利用するing any 援助 is another 事柄.?

Having considered as many as three changes to their seam line-up, they have settled on one, 取って代わるing Josh Tongue with Jofra Archer. And that means sticking with the 本体，大部分／ばら積みの of an attack that has so far 許すd India to rack up 1,849 runs, a 記録，記録的な／記録する for the first two 実験（する）s of a series.

With Gus Atkinson’s return from hamstring trouble deferred once more, and Jamie Overton 辛うじて 行方不明の out, the upshot is a （死）刑の執行猶予（をする） for both Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse, who between them have taken nine wickets in two games at 67 apiece.?

Chris Woakes will keep his place にもかかわらず 与える／捧げるing more ひどく with the bat than ball

He and Brydon Carse have only taken nine wickets between them across two matches

For all his previous excellence at Lor d’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 証明する.

It feels almost futile pointing out that Shoaib Bashir has been expensive this series, both ーに関して／ーの点でs 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.

一方／合間, both 味方するs must 競う with 現在進行中の 不満 at the Dukes balls, which have been going out of 形態／調整 more quickly than usual and 誘発するd 正規の／正選手 on-field requests from Stokes and Shubman Gill for a 交替／補充.?

Certainly, bowling with the older ball has 証明するd harder than usual, with Harry Brook ? who yesterday climbed above Joe Root to the 最高の，を越す of the 実験（する） 最高位のs ? and Jamie Smith 追加するing 303 at Edgbaston.

India’s 副／悪徳行為-captain Rishabh Pant 追加するd to the 不平（をいう）s. ‘The ball is getting de-形態／調整d too much,’ he said. ‘That has never happened before.’

And he 述べるd the fact that batsmen have to adjust each time a 交替／補充 is brought out as ‘definitely irritating’. He 追加するd: ‘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 答える／応じるd indignantly, telling an Indian newspaper that the problem with the balls may be 関係のある to ‘the cowhide we’re receiving’ from the Scottish highlands. The whole episode 危険s becoming a farce.

It all 追加するs up to a ticklish time for Archer to make his 実験（する） return after a four-and-a-half-year absence in which his red-ball 未来 often looked わずかな／ほっそりした to 非，不，無-existent.?

Stokes sounded aghast at the idea that England would 急ぐ him 支援する before he was ready, and 賞賛するd his commitme nt to a 判型 he could easily have 拒絶するd altogether in favour of the T20 franchise 回路・連盟.

Shubman Gill has criticised the Dukes ball, with （民事の）告訴s that it goes out of 形態／調整 too quickly

Earlier in the summer, before the one-off 実験（する） 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 準備完了 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 証明する the quickest 大勝する to ending Gill’s purple patch, which has so far produced 585 runs.

‘Very good players are 許すd to play 井戸／弁護士席, and he has played very 井戸／弁護士席 in the first two games,’ said Stokes.?

If Gill is 説 something 類似の about Stokes by the end of the series, England’s Bazball 事業／計画（する） may yet remain on 跡をつける. But the line they are treading is almost too 罰金 for 慰安.

The Lord’s pitch was flecked with green on the eve of the 実験（する）, and the 決定／判定勝ち（する） at the 投げ上げる／ボディチェックする may depend on 総計費 条件s. But good 天候 is 推定する／予想するd throughout, with 気温s 定期的に touching 30 degrees.