At the famous Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, England and Australia are playing the second Ashes Test. The hosts have won the first Test at Edgbaston by two wickets, giving them a 1-0 lead in the Test series. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is a big fan of cricket. From time to time, he gives his thoughts on how things are going in English cricket. He recently gave England’s red-ball captain, Ben Stokes, a lot of credit for getting and inspiring the team to do so well in the last year.
“Ben Stokes is an inspiring leader who can get people going and lead by example on the pitch. Sunak said on the BBC Test Match Special, “I don’t know what is going on behind the scenes to build that trust, which is what it comes down to, but they believe in each other and are sticking with it.”
“Last year was the most interesting in cricket history. How could you not love that little bird? The numbers don’t need to be explained. You have to give credit to the team for what they’ve done, especially since it’s mostly the same guys who are leading in a different way. It might be a good subject for a case study.”
Before the Ashes, Ben Stokes-led England’s Test team had won 11 of their previous 13 games.
On Day 5, it will be hard for England.
England needs something big to happen on Day 5 of the Lord’s Test, because they only have six wickets and still need 257 more runs. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins caused a lot of trouble in the last session of Day 4, and England went from being ahead by 371 runs to being 45/4.
In the middle, opener Ben Duckett and captain Ben Stokes fought each other and got England to Stumps without any more damage. After Stokes and Duckett, Jonny Bairstow is the only known batter left in the home team’s hut. For them to win, they will have to play out of their hearts.