ICC 2023 Cricket World Cup: Ben Stokes' return boosts England's title defence in India

World Cup cricket cuts that little bit deeper, means that little bit more. Careers can be defined by World Cup cricket. Legacies etched in sporting folklore. Heroes are made at a World Cup. Villains, too.

Ben Stokes has been both. His is a legacy of greatness made from many magic moments, Ashes hundreds, T20 World Cup final heartbreak, a redemption story worthy of any Hollywood blockbuster and, of course, World Cup final glory when he carried his team and country to victory at Lord’s four years ago.

Through thick and thin, Stokes has been there for it all. His success has been England's success. His failure has been England's failure. He has been the heartbeat of the England cricket team. At times the pulse has dropped, but never for long. And when the big moments have come around in the biggest matches, it's he who has stood taller than most.

A maiden Test hundred on his first Ashes tour of Australia when all around him – the Andersons, Roots, Cooks and Pietersens – were hiding in their bunkers as Mitchell Johnson delivered his own version of Shock and Awe confirmed Stokes' arrival on the big stage, and that this was a young man destined for great things.

Stokes’ Blitzkrieg moment came in South Africa a few years later when he plundered a 198-ball 258 in a Test match in Cape Town, but his greatest achievements have been as captain.

Having taken charge of a Test team weary from another Ashes mauling and brutal scheduling during the Covid-19 pandemic, Stokes turned England from underachieving strugglers into one of the best in the world – a fearless, attacking outfit that not only play thrill-a-minute cricket, but have put together an impressive run of results in the last year and a half.

Comparisons with Mike Brearley have been made, with many respected voices in the game arguing that Stokes has already proven himself England’s best ever captain. Maybe it’s too early for talk like that – an Ashes win would probably seal the deal – but he is building a compelling case.

When you add the argument for Stokes being the best all-rounder this country has ever produced, better than Andrew Flintoff and even Ian Botham, it’s pretty clear we are talking about a magnificent career.

But all good things come to an end and with a longstanding knee injury threatening to cut short his playing days, at least to the point where he can no longer fulfil his role as an all-rounder, as will be the case at this World Cup, we must accept Stokes is on the back nine of that career.

So, what more is there left to achieve? With his body starting to fail him, what more is possible?

England's fortunes tied to Stokes

Barely a year has passed since Stokes retired from ODI cricket because of his displeasure at an apparently unmanageable England schedule, knee and finger injures compounding his frustration and seemingly ending his hopes of helping England mount a strong World Cup defence in India.

Yet here we are: England's fortunes tied to Stokes again, in India of places, where it all looked like it might fall apart as Carlos Brathwaite hit him for four consecutive sixes in the final over of the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Slumped on knees that would later fail him, it was hard to picture Stokes returning one day as a World Cup winner and World Cup final Man of the Match, a player coaxed out of retirement because his country needs him for one last battle, his team not sure they can face the trenches without him.

And Stokes answered that call. Of course he did. Barely able to walk through the latter stages of the Ashes, certainly unable to bowl, with surgery apparently inevitable, Stokes could not say no his captain, his coach, his team. The England team. No knee surgery, not yet, just more strapping and painkillers, ready to stand up again.

The early signs have been promising, too. No rustiness, his ODI return marked with a measured half-century in Cardiff before he smashed 182 from 124 balls at The Oval. An England ODI record, no less, from a man who was supposed to be done with this format.

With that came relief for captain Jos Buttler no doubt, for this is an England missing some of its biggest stars from 2019. Jofra Archer isn't in the main squad following a run of horror injuries, Jason Roy didn't make it following a run of horror form. Eoin Morgan, former captain and mastermind of England's white-ball domination, has since retired.

Of those who remain, age would appear to be catching up with some. Adil Rashid has had struggles with injury, so has Chris Woakes. Jonny Bairstow's own injury hell was of a more freakish nature, but still, this is an ageing England side missing some of the men who made it a great one.

Perhaps those in the dressing room feel the winds of change, sense that many of the pillars that once held this great house together are now gone, wonder if they can stop the roof from falling in if the mighty India come knocking with their conveyor belt of big guns. Or the Australians, still snarling from the Ashes.

But Stokes is still there. Just as he was in last year's T20 World Cup final when England slipped to 45-3 against a brilliant Pakistan pace attack, as he was at the end when England completed an incredibly tense run chase with only six balls to spare, Stokes hitting the winning run.

The message that will have been relayed in the dressing room that afternoon at the MCG: Stokes is still there. The same message from Lord's in 2019, the same message in the midst of the Miracle of Headingley later that summer. The same message from Lord's this year. Stokes is still there.

Whatever England's players face from here, they will have the comfort of knowing Stokes is still there. Like the big brother who protects you from the playground bully, the trusted friend who helps you home at the end of a long night.

Stokes is still there, and with a sniff of more sporting folklore, the chance to put the finishing touches to a legacy that has already been made, England and its players will believe.

World Cups make villains and heroes, and England have their hero back in the trenches. Stokes is still there and, for as long as he is, anything will seem possible.

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