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Stokes relishes spin challenge to hold up Hampshire
- Updated: September 21, 2016
Durham 242 for 7 (Clark 58, Stokes 50, Richardson 50*) trail Hampshire 411 (Dawson 62) by 169 runsScorecard
It seems fair to wonder exactly why Ben Stokes is playing for Durham in this match, given the allrounder’s crown jewel status in English cricket. His colleague Mark Wood is not, and Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow – two other allrounders who will be on the complete 84-day, dual-format tour of the subcontinent from a week Thursday through to December 21 – were withdrawn from their (vital) fixtures.
Durham, safe in Division One after beating Surrey last week, described this trip as “the jaunt to the south coast” when announcing their squad. Was this why Stokes had come? For a jaunt and a drink, to see off his mates Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick as they stayed south? Or to catch up with his England mates Vincey, Daws and Toppers (who, along with Hampshire’s performance analyst Joe Maiden, did a stint as a sub fielder)?
Stokes put those thoughts to bed as he flung himself about in the field, with that very unique brand of aggressive abandon, or when he had bowled 10 typically full-blooded overs by early afternoon on day one. The man, of course, does nothing by half and this opened the original can of worms: what if this increasingly injury-prone jewel injured himself here, playing a game which seemed to hold little for him?
But when Stoneman’s penultimate innings for Durham ended with a loss of patience and a smack to midwicket off Liam Dawson – who is bowling with a troublesome finger – to leave Durham 49 for 3, and 362 behind, Stokes was presented with an opportunity to make this a very worthwhile jaunt south indeed. This is not Chennai or Chittagong, but the sandy …
