Ben Stokes and Roy (Tin Cup) McAvoy: Different Sport, Different Generation, Different Country But Still Kindred Spirits
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Ben Stokes bowling during Edgbaston Test (AP Photo)
There is, of course, one other fundamental difference between Ben Stokes and Roy McAvoy. One of them is a fictional character played by Kevin Costner in a 1996 romantic comedy called Tin Cup and the other is very much the real current England cricket captain. But for sporting philosophy, you’d be hard-pressed to slide the thinnest of cigarette papers between them.
McAvoy is a former golf prodigy aimlessly running a back-woods driving range who, to get even with his arch enemy and love rival David Simms, played by Don Johnson, decides to try to qualify for the U.S. Open and win Simms’ girl in the process. Throw into that mix Roy’s maverick but inspirational coach.
McAvoy shocks the golf world by making the cut with a U.S. Open round record. He does it playing daredevil golf full of risky shots. On the last day of the tournament, he is in a three-way battle to win, but for the fourth day in a row, takes a long shot that repeatedly fails to keep the ball out of the water hazard. With shots in hand, he could conservatively ‘lay-up’ and ensure victory. But it's just not in his DNA to do it. On his twelfth and final attempt to clear the water, facing disqualification, he reaches the green and amazingly, it goes in the hole. But his chance to win the Open has been blown. He’d favoured ‘grandstanding’, bent on pleasing the crowd, overdoing the obvious and most would say a sensible thing. No matter if he didn’t win, he was the popular hero nonetheless.
McAvoy in Ashes 2023's context
Back to life, back to reality (to borrow from Soul II Soul), the first Edgbaston Test is one that England could and should have won. Ben Stokes was in full Tin Cup mode, taking risks, entertaining the crowd, and putting pressure on the opposition by doing the things they least expected. But was that first evening declaration his ‘water hazard’? Was it the grandstanding moment to delight the crowd, that ultimately cost victory? Dyed in the wool Test purists have argued it was. Others will see the bigger picture and reason that whilst runs had been left on the table and England didn’t take a wicket in those few evening overs, they had nonetheless set up the chance to attack Australia and get a first-innings lead. What Ben Stokes could not have anticipated was the catalogue of errors, or to be kinder, misfortunes that allowed Australia to get to all but first-innings parity and go on to win.
Just like McAvoy, England lost faced a close defeat
And there, the similarity with Roy McAvoy ends, for whilst he lost the fictional US Open due to relentless pursuit of an inner ideology, Ben Stokes and England didn’t lose the first Test because of their approach, far from it. They came close to winning with it, but fell just short due to poor execution, some questionable selection and let’s not forget, the excellence of the opposition, particularly the supreme Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon and of course, Pat Cummins.
Jonny Bairstow battered the ball for a rapid-fire 78 on the first day before being stumped by Alex Carey. But when batting gloves were swapped for wicket-keeping ones, the ball became a bar of soap as a second ball of stumping of Green slipped away from Bairstow and then Carey on 26 edged into Bairstow’s gloves and back out again. You could almost hear the harumphing of indignation from Abinger Common to Woodhatch as Surrey fans bemoaned the absence of the Ben Foakes. Three further chances would escape Jonny’s gloves throughout the Test. Root would fail to grab two caught and bowled chances before getting his man third time lucky. Ben Stokes’s fourth innings drop of Lyon would have been some catch, but on other days it might just have stuck.
Add to that Broad bowling centurion Khawaja on 112 only to find he had overstepped. Those three missed chances alone had cost the 78 runs to negate Bairstow’s first innings contribution. England should have been through Australia with a healthy lead rather than the near parity that set up the one-innings shootout.
The huge role Jack Leach has played in the Stokes McCullum era has been underestimated by some, yet 493.3 overs and 44 wickets since June last year, conceding runs at just a shade over 3 per over shows just how vital he had become. No matter how many LOLs in the text to recall Moeen Ali, the painful site of that spinning figure, blistered due to the pronounced duke ball seam it hadn’t had to work within two years surprised few. Perhaps Mo has been dunking his damaged digit in vinegar looking to harden it like a schoolboy’s conker, but it would be a surprise if he is able to play at Lord's. England are delaying selection to give him time and have the youthful exuberance of Rehan Ahmed standing by, but it is more likely Joe Root will step forward in Ali’s absence.
What's next for Stokesy's men?
Captain Stokes ahead of Lord's Test against Australia (Twitter)
Much of England’s Lord’s selection dilemma will also rest upon an honest appraisal of how much bowling their captain feels he can do. Stokes rightly stands in comparison to great Ashes-winning England all-rounders. But just 14 overs in the first Test falls well short of Botham in 1981, who averaged 45 overs per Test and took 34 wickets at 21 each. Flintoff in 2005 bowled a few less, averaging 39 overs per Test yielding 24 wickets at a shade over 27. Twenty-one overs per match for Stokes in 2015 reduced to 19 in 2019 and looks unlikely to head back upwards again. As an occasional impact bowler, he is still a fabulous asset, but not one to be relied upon in selecting a bowling attack. Woakes and or Mark Wood look more like to make up a four-man seam attack with Stokes as an occasional option for Lords.
For all the above, however, either side could have won at Edgbaston. And right there is the main reason to celebrate, whether you rooted for the victor Australia or vanquished England. Cricket is front-page news, grabbing the main headlines and not buried beneath lower-league football results or below the fold of websites. England’s approach is a big part of that and Australia let's never forget, are the worthiest of opponents.
England may need to tweak or moderate here or there, but never compromise. Lords on Wednesday is the most delicious of prospects.
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