Stokes lost head in battle with SamuelsEngland all-rounder is a special talent but his personality is not suited to bowling the last overSimon Hughes | The AnalystApril 5 2016, 1:01am, The TimesAt the climax of an adrenaline-fuelled event such as Sunday’s World Twenty20 final, it may be hard to envisage the role that psychology plays. Surely it is just a matter of the bowler putting the ball in the right place and/or the batsman hitting and hoping? In fact, the state of mind and general demeanour of the two combatants has a massive influence on the outcome. The inflammatory post-match comments of the victor Marlon Samuels about the vanquished Ben Stokes suggests that perhaps he was not the ideal person to bowl the final over, courageously willing though he was to do so.Bowling at such critical moments is a precise art. Not only does it require special skill, but also an unusual mix of optimism and fatalism. You must have the self-belief that you can direct the ball exactly where you want to, but also the realisation that it could go horribly wrong. As I wrote in The Times preview to the final, when bowling at the death “there is a tiny margin between getting it right and disappearing for 15 an over”. Having bowled the last over in three Lord’s cup finals (won two, lost one), I know this from bitter experience.Samuels is a hugely provocative character: self-satisfied, outspoken, controversialDespite the immensity of the situation and your jangling nerves, you must try to exude a Zen-like calm. Any tension in the hands and fingers will ever so slightly inhibit the release of the ball — the difference between bowling a perfect yorker and a hittable halfvolley. Naked aggression or overexcitement can have the same result. The heart-rate needs to be controlled and the breathing slow. It’s best to take your time between balls.The best bowlers in these situations marry high levels of skill with a phlegmatic imperviousness. Watch a last over from Lasith Malinga or Dwayne Bravo, or from England’s best “finisher” Darren Gough. They look focused but relaxed. They run in with energy and determination, but they smile and shrug when things don’t go quite as planned. The responsibility sits lightly on their shoulders. What will be will be, their body language seems to say. It can be quite off-putting for the batsman.Stokes, for all his brilliant all-round ability, is not a composed character. He is passionate, confrontational. That is what makes him an exhilarating Test-match cricketer, bringing to life a dormant period of play and seizing the moment. But that vivid, emotional streak has been counterproductive in the high-octane environment of the one-day game, where he is yet to deliver the match-winning performance for England that his talent promises.He is so uptight. Watch him bat in a one-day game. He stands at the crease bristling with intent and tries to obliterate the ball with every stroke. And that’s just in the nets before play. Trevor Bayliss has tried to steer him down a calmer path, pre-match, but it hasn’t worked so far. And in Sunday’s final he allowed himself to get embroiled in verbal warfare with Samuels, even before the West Indian’s innings had got going.Samuels is a hugely provocative character: self-satisfied, outspoken, controversial. He deliberately gets under opponents’ skin and takes great pleasure in doing so. He feeds off confrontation. It fuels his determination. There have been many with similar traits. The Australian, Steve Waugh, was one. He thrived on opponents’ animosity. If someone didn’t sledge him when he first came to the wicket, he’d have a go at the bowler or a close fielder to stir things up, to create a frosty atmosphere. That got his juices flowing and enhanced his fighting qualities.The best way to deal with such a personality is to ignore him, pretend he’s not there. Waugh hated that, and Samuels would too. They see themselves as “special” and “different”. They don’t want to be treated like everybody else. It makes them feel inconsequential. But with so much previous hostility between him and Samuels, Stokes couldn’t help himself.Samuels feeds off confrontation and it fuels his determinationSAURABH DAS/APThe verbal spats began, rousing Samuels and riling Stokes. They continued periodically, Samuels fanning the flames. By the time Stokes came to bowl the 20th over, he looked like he was about to combust, although he was doing his best to contain it.To make matters worse he had not bowled since the 13th over. Usually when you bowl at the death, you need a couple of balls to settle your nerves and get your bearings. He had been entrusted with the 18th over in earlier matches and had got a couple of loose deliveries out of the way before the denouement. But on Sunday, because David Willey had taken two slightly fortuitous wickets in the 16th over, he was entrusted with the 18th. Stokes was denied the relative comfort of a few balls to find his rhythm before the critical moment.His first ball of that final over lacked conviction. It drifted down the leg side into Carlos Brathwaite’s huge arc and was swung away for an easy six. If that was bad, the sight of Samuels, 85 not out and smirking at the non-striker’s end, was worse. The contest was lost at that point. The momentum had swung irreparably, although the brutality of Brathwaite’s striking was breathtaking.After the game, Eoin Morgan rightly blamed England’s poor batting. It was not Stokes’s fault. But you cannot discount the mind games that left one man a hero and the other heartbroken.
On a happier note, congratulations to Kane Williamson on being the Wisden player of 2015. I've seen him play quite a few times over past couple of years and he is a magnificent batsman. Him and Joe Root are the best and most outstanding batsmen in the world and given their ages will both get better.
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Topic: The Cricket Thread 2016 (Read 501044 times)
