Rob Key: Ben Stokes will be the perfect mentor for Jofra Archer after all his ups and downs

World class potential: Archer is at the same stage as Stokes was a few years ago
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Rob Key23 July 2020

Greatness comes in many different forms in cricket. Alastair Cook was great because he was the ultimate clinical accumulator of runs. Kevin Pietersen was great because at his best he could destroy any attack.

Ben Stokes is great because he is a match-winner, he is always affecting the game. If the stats nerds could come up with an algorithm for how someone impacts a game, Stokes, over the last year, would be a long way ahead of most who have played.

Cricket is a sport where you need the other 10 people in your team. Virat Kohli still needs his bowlers to perform if India are going to win. Glenn McGrath could not win games without any runs on the board.

Stokes right now seems able to take control of a ridiculous number of aspects of England’s play. He is like the best player in an Under-11s team, doing everything well.

He is a fantastic bat, and a very good bowler. But he generally bowls when things are desperate, or when no one else wants to. He has never taken the new ball in Tests, but would be pretty good at that. He fields where the hardest chances go.

Most of all, he shows up when the stage is at its grandest. In the World Cup, he was man of the match in the final, then was the only one to stand up in defeats by Sri Lanka and Australia. When the Ashes were on the line, it was him.

The eyes of the whole world are on this series with the West Indies, because no cricket has been played for months. Surprise, surprise, Stokes has been spectacular. When you see a player operating at this level, it’s easy to forget the journey he has been on.

I first came across Stokes in a county game a decade ago and thought “wow”. But it has not been plain sailing. In 2014 he was batting No8. In 2015, he could not get into a 15-man World Cup squad. In 2016, Carlos Brathwaite hit him for four sixes. In 2017 and 2018 he was dogged by the Bristol incident.

All of these things have contributed to make Stokes one of England’s greatest players ever. It is worth bearing this in mind with Jofra Archer (below). Archer is Stokes a few years ago: young, green, and could be an all-time great, but with a lot of learning to do, which means he will make mistakes, like last week. This should just be a little bump in the road.

Archer has to put up with things almost everyone who has been involved with English cricket cannot understand. He receives vile racist abuse on social media. There are good aspects to social media, but it is nowhere near well-policed enough.

Getty Images for ECB

It is worth remembering, too, that social media is not compulsory — you can switch it off. Yesterday my 13-year-old daughter tried to guilt-trip me into letting her have Snapchat and Instagram. It took me less than a second to say no.

It is only one game since Archer bowled beautifully and in his short England career, he has been superb. I am looking forward to him being back on the field as soon as possible. England have a lot of good fast bowlers, but he offers something across all conditions.

It is here that another of Stokes’s roles comes into play. He has always been the ultimate team man. He is empathetic, and the man you want around when there is trouble. We are seeing that more as he is given greater responsibility and has a bigger platform.

Stokes looks out for Archer, and they have spoken about the tougher moments on the journeys they are on. The senior player will be providing guidance to his younger mate, whether he is in the XI for the final Test of this series tomorrow. Don’t forget, it took Stokes more than six years in Test cricket to reach the level he has, whereas Archer is just a year in.

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