As Ben Stokes approaches three figures, a closer look at England’s century club

By Sports Desk February 13, 2024

Ben Stokes will become the 16th Englishman to win 100 Test caps when he captains his side in Thursday’s third Test against India.

Here, the PA news agency looks at England’s century club and Stokes’ record to date.

Century club

James Anderson will hope to add to his national-record 184 Tests in Rajkot, while team-mate Joe Root ranks fourth on the list on 137 behind Stuart Broad (167) and Sir Alastair Cook (161).

Alec Stewart, Ian Bell, Graham Gooch, David Gower, Michael Atherton, Colin Cowdrey, Sir Geoff Boycott, Kevin Pietersen, Lord Ian Botham, Sir Andrew Strauss and Graham Thorpe are England’s other centurions. Barring injury, the remainder of the India series will lift Stokes alongside Botham on 102 Tests.

Cook is England’s record Test run-scorer with 12,472, with Root just over 1,000 behind as he keeps up his pursuit, while Anderson leads the wickets column on 695.

Of those among the group to have taken more than one Test wicket, only Stokes, Botham and Root have achieved the distinction of a higher average batting than bowling.

Botham averaged 33.55 for his 5,200 runs and 28.40 for his 383 wickets – the latter figure places him third on England’s all-time wickets list behind Anderson and Broad (604).

Stokes, with over 1,000 runs more than Botham at an average nearly three runs higher at 36.34, has a strong claim as England’s greatest batting all-rounder – Root averages 49.65 with the bat but a hefty 43.88 with his off-spin.

Three more wickets, to add to his 197 at 32.07, will see Stokes join the illustrious club of 16 all-rounders to date with 3,000 runs and 200 wickets in Tests.

Broad, Botham, Andrew Flintoff and Moeen Ali have achieved that feat for England – Stokes has a better batting average than any of the quartet and will rank third in bowling average.

Setting the tone

Only 11 men have made a higher Test score for England than Stokes’ 258 against South Africa in 2016, with former captain Cook having done so on two occasions.

Coming in 198 balls at a strike rate of 130 with 30 fours and 11 sixes, it was the fastest score of 250-plus in Test history and England’s fastest double century – the next-highest England Test score recorded at over a run a ball is Zak Crawley’s 189 off 182 in last summer’s Ashes.

Stokes has 13 Test centuries in all, with four five-wicket hauls including a best of six for 22 against the West Indies in 2017.

As captain he has presided over 14 wins, six defeats and only one draw as he and coach Brendon McCullum have implemented a new aggressive style of play.

England have successfully chased five fourth-inning targets over 250 in that time, including a national-record 378 against India at Edgbaston in 2022 and three of their top eight chases of all time.

Somewhat surprisingly, that 258 is one of only two Stokes centuries at over a run a ball – he made 101 off 92 against New Zealand in 2015.

Related items

  • Jangoo continues red hot form with 111 to lead Red Force to 45-run DLS method win over Harpy Eagles Jangoo continues red hot form with 111 to lead Red Force to 45-run DLS method win over Harpy Eagles

    Amir Jangoo’s red hot form in this season’s CG United Super50 Cup continued on Saturday with a maiden List A century to lead his team to a 45-run DLS method win over the Guyana Harpy Eagles at the Queen’s Park Oval.

    In a match reduced to 45 overs-per-side, Jangoo, coming off scores of 96 and 70*, led the way with 111 off 114 balls to help the defending champions post an imposing 288-3 in their 45 overs.

    The left-hander’s innings included 10 fours and two sixes. Jyd Goolie and Kjorn Ottley also got half centuries with 68* off 51 balls and 66 off 86 balls, respectively.

    The Harpy Eagles were then reduced to 201-7 off 39 overs when the game was called off for bad light with them 45 runs short of the DLS par score.

    Kemol Savory was left stranded on 69* off 92 balls. Anderson Phillip took 2-37 from six overs while Bryan Charles took 2-40 off nine overs.

    Full Scores:

    Trinidad & Tobago Red Force 288-3 off 45 overs (Amir Jangoo 111, Jyd Goolie 68, Kjorn Ottley 66)

    Guyana Harpy Eagles 201-7 off 39 overs (Kemol Savory 69*, Kevlon Anderson 32, Anderson Phillip 2-37, Bryan Charles 2-37)

    The win moves the Red Force back to the top of the points standings with 48 from five games, 10 points ahead of the Leeward Islands Hurricanes and 14 ahead of the Barbados Pride in third.

    The Harpy Eagles are four points ahead of the Jamaica Scorpions in fourth with 28.

  • Spinners star as Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by four wickets in opening T20I Spinners star as Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by four wickets in opening T20I

    Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the first T20I of their two-match series in Dambulla.

    Captain Charith Asalanka scored an unbeaten 35 to help the hosts go past the 136-run target set by the Black Caps with an over to spare. 

    After losing opener Kusal Mendis for a duck in the second over, Kusal Perera hit a quick 23 runs off 15 balls, while Kamindu Mendis also added the same amount to the scoreboard as Sri Lanka eased to victory despite losing six wickets. 

    The tourists had struggled on a surface that aided Sri Lanka's spinners, with Dunith Wellalage (3-20), Wanindu Hasaranga (2-20) and Maheesh Theekshana (1-21) picking up six wickets between them. 

    All-rounder Zakary Foulkes, who went on to get his career-best T20I figures of 3-20 with the ball, and Michael Bracewell both scored 27 runs for a youthful New Zealand side, which ultimately lost wickets at regular intervals and could not mount the big score needed to truly test Sri Lanka.

    The two sides will meet again in the second and T20I match on Sunday before the first of the three one-day internationals at the same venue on Wednesday. 

  • George laments 'unforgivable' England showing after last-gasp Australia defeat George laments 'unforgivable' England showing after last-gasp Australia defeat

    England captain Jamie George labelled his side's performance as "unforgivable" after their 42-37 defeat to Australia on Saturday.

    The Red Rose came flying out of the blocks with two early tries from Chandler Cunningham-South before Australia hit back through Tom Wright and Harry Wilson at Twickenham.

    Noah Lolesio's penalty ensured the Wallabies snatched a 20-18 lead at the break, only for England replacement Ollie Sleightholme to drag his side ahead with a brilliant double.

    Andrew Kellaway and Mario Itoje exchanged late scores for either side before Max Jorgensen’s last-gasp try secured victory for Australia.

    George lamented his side's defensive showing after ending on the wrong side of a high-scoring thriller.

    "I think the blueprint of how we wanted to play was in the first 20 minutes," George told TNT Sport. "We put Australia under a lot of pressure. Sometimes in a Test match like that you think the job is done.

    "We took our foot off the gas. Credit to Australia they were very good but we cannot keep doing that, it will be a tough one to watch back.

    "It is a fine balance between closing up shop and trying to see out the win rather than attacking. We talk about being brave and courageous and that [Itoje] try was exactly that. We will look at being better.

    "The system and the principle all work. We know it works, but we didn't quite get what we wanted out if it.

    "Leaking 42 points at home is unforgivable. They got front-foot ball and then have some pretty good runners outside."

    Saturday marked the first time England have lost four Test matches in a row since 2018, when they suffered five straight defeats under Eddie Jones.

    England head coach Steve Borthwick echoed George's sentiment after the Autumn Nations Series defeat.

    "Gutting. We made such a number of errors, and it gave opportunities to the opposition to run in tries and they did," he told TNT Sport.

    "In terms of our mindset, you are seeing a team wanting to move the ball and we want that, but we have to understand the consequences of it, and we saw that here.

    "We didn't give our defence the chance to show what it can do, there was so much turnover and loose ball that the system couldn't set itself.

    "There'll be no shortage of motivation for next week for South Africa."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.