Ben Stokes' bowling return for England a big boost as Ashes preparations ramp up

Operation Ashes is under way.

England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker James Anderson has been retired, moving from bowling magician to bowling mentor, and it is now full steam ahead to Australia in 2025/26.

England have not won the Ashes overseas since Anderson claimed 24 wickets in 2010/11. They have only done it twice since 1979.

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They have failed to win a Test on their previous three trips to Australia, with only draws in the 2022 Sydney fixture - earned as last-wicket pair Anderson and Stuart Broad batted out the final two overs - and at the MCG in 2017 on a dog of a pitch preventing them from being beaten 15-0 in that time.

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England are eager to snap that dismal record with the changes this summer - pensioning off Anderson, ditching Ben Foakes for Jamie Smith behind the stumps, going all in on Gus Atkinson, preferring Shoaib Bashir to Jack Leach as spinner - made with Australia in mind.

Debuting Surrey duo Atkinson and Smith vindicated their selections for Bazball 2.0 during the demolition job over West Indies at Lord's.

Atkinson took 12 wickets in the match to record the best figures by an England Test debutant in 134 years, but more importantly showed the pace, hostility, accuracy and skill that could prove pivotal on flat and true Australian pitches in 16 months' time.

Smith shifted through the gears with the bat in his 70 from 119 balls, starting sedately before exploding while operating with the tail, crunching a six out of the ground.

Foakes could have done the first bit but perhaps not the second, once remarking: "I'm not, as you'd say, Bazball." Smith's ability to accelerate may be another vital asset down under.

Stokes back as fully-fledged all-rounder

Arguably, though, the biggest Ashes boost for England coming out of the first Test is the return to full-time bowling for Ben Stokes.

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His ability to deliver overs as fourth seamer, often in lengthy spells, restores greater balance to the side, allowing quicks like Atkinson and Mark Wood - and hopefully Jofra Archer - to operate in shorter bursts and ensuring young spinner Bashir can 1) play and 2) is not over-bowled. It gives England their Superman back.

Stokes' left knee had long been his kryptonite but after surgery late last year followed by a summer of intense fitness work and County Championship action with Durham after opting to skip the IPL and T20 World Cup, he looks lean, and extremely dangerous with the ball.

He bowled eight overs unchanged and took one wicket in West Indies' first innings. He then sent down 10 on the trot in their second while striking twice, becoming only the third man to reach the landmark of 200 Test wickets and 6,000 runs, after Jaques Kallis and Sir Garfield Sobers. Quite the illustrious company.

The fact he followed that second-innings bowling stint with the near run-out of Jason Holder after a stunning pick-up and throw further highlighted the excellent shape Stokes is in.

England would have beaten West Indies without Stokes' twin strike on the second evening but his brace certainly sped up their win, meaning Anderson was supping his retirement Guinness a little after noon on the third day of his 188th and final Test.

He has been training really hard in the gym, been disciplined with his diet, and got some mileage in the legs with Durham. I thought he ran in beautifully – not with the intensity we have seen before at 100 per cent, it was quite measured – but he got movement and swung it.

Stokes' importance as a bowler will only grow with Anderson nudged out and Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain has stressed that the skipper has plenty of craft to go along with his endurance.

Writing in The Mail, Hussain said of Stokes: "He adds something to the attack not just as a part-time, hold-up-an-end bowler but a genuine wicket-taking option.

"I used to hate facing bowlers like him that leaned away to the off-side. The game of cricket is about angles and to both left handers and right handers Stokes causes problems.

"Stokes has a really strong wrist position and the ability to get the ball to go either way. When it reverse swings, the angle he creates makes him one of England's best exponents of that art.

"Stokes is certainly not someone who can only perform in the UK [he has 101 Test wickets at home and 100 on the road] and if England are going to win in Australia next year, they're going to need him bowling some of those hard overs as part of a five-man attack."

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'Bowling return will give Stokes confidence with his batting'

Hussain also feels Stokes' return to bowling will boost his batting, which has dipped of late with single-figure scores in his last five Test knocks and a best innings of four. The captain has only passed fifty twice since his Ashes 155 at Lord's last summer.

"Not being able to contribute with the ball has put pressure on Stokes' batting," Hussain told Sky Sports. "I think he has thought, 'I've got to bat properly and occupy the crease'.

"Stokes is at his best when he is taking on bowlers and now he is bowling again I think that will give him confidence with the bat."

Bowling? Check. Fielding? Check? Batting? Maybe on its way back. Inspirational and clever captaincy? Always a given with Stokes, evidenced at Lord's by a switch to the short-ball ploy late on the second evening as Atkinson bounced out Holder.

There is a long while yet before The Ashes, plenty of time for problems to arise or - please no - Stokes' knee to buckle, but having the captain back as a fully-fledged all-rounder is a huge deal.

England's recent Ashes operations in Australia have quickly turned to mincemeat. Maybe the next one will be different.

Watch day one of the second Test between England and West Indies, from Trent Bridge in Nottingham, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Thursday (first ball to be bowled at 11am).

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