Nasser Hussain Heaps Praise On Ben Stokes, Compares Him With Legendary Viv Richards

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has lavished praise on Ben Stokes and compared him with the legendary Viv Richards after his stunning century in the recently-concluded second Ashes Test against Australia.

Four years after his Headingley masterclass, Ben Stokes was on the verge of snatching another miraculous Ashes win for England on Sunday (July 2) at the iconic Lord’s. The England skipper smashed a spectacular 155 to give Australia a huge scare but failed to take his team over the line.

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Chasing 371, England were reeling at 41 for 4 on day four before losing Ben Duckett and Jonny Bairstow in the first session on the final day. Their chances of winning the Test looked as good as over after Bairstow was dismissed. However, Ben Stokes had other ideas.

He launched a stunning assault on the visitors and turned the game on its head. The left-handed batsman added 108 runs with Stuart Broad in no time to revive England’s chances before miscuing a Josh Hazlewood delivery when his team needed 70 runs. Australia went on to win the game by 43 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

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Nasser Hussain hails Ben Stokes:

Heaping praise on Ben Stokes, Hussain hailed the allrounder as the most competitive England cricketer in his time. Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, Hussain claimed that Stokes is the best player in such situations. The former England captain went as far as saying that he would only want to see Stokes at the crease among the players he has been watching from the past three decades.

“Ben Stokes showed his colleagues in the dressing room what playing for his England team is all about on Sunday – and there is no better cricketer in my era in that kind of situation. Ask me who I would want to be at the crease from the past 30 years and it would be Stokes,” wrote Hussain.

He has done it so many times, whether it be the World Cup final, World Twenty20 final or Headingley four years ago and it was remarkable on Sunday that he almost added another match-winning masterclass to his portfolio. That was a truly incredible innings.

“I haven’t seen a more competitive England cricketer in my time than Stokes and it’s amazing too how often he gets the ball out of the middle of the bat in these kinds of situations when all the fielders are on the rope. If he doesn’t clear them, he gets it in the gaps,” he added.

Writing further, Hussain compared Stokes with Viv Richards, writing: “Maybe Viv Richards is the only cricketer I have seen able to hit the ball into the gap or out of the ground as well as Stokes. Greatness is a word we use with Viv. It’s one fitting too for Stokes.”

The third Test of the five-match series is scheduled to be played at Headingley in Leeds from Thursday, July 6. England needs to win the game at any cost to keep alive their hopes of winning the series and reclaiming the Ashes.

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