{"id":592825,"date":"2025-11-25T12:46:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T12:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/592825\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T12:46:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T12:46:34","slug":"infuriating-inconsistency-is-also-ben-stokes-england-teams-superpower-by-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/592825\/","title":{"rendered":"Infuriating inconsistency is also Ben Stokes\u2019 England team\u2019s superpower, by the way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t 3 minute read<\/p>\n

No team likes being called inconsistent, but inconsistency cuts both ways. In a scenario where you\u2019ve lost a Test match inside two days, \u2018consistent\u2019 is absolutely the last thing you want to be. More two-day defeats? No, thank you. After the first Ashes Test, England can console themselves that they have rarely been accused of consistency.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a school of thought that England were so bad in Perth that another 5-0 is on the way. That scoreline has undeniably become more likely, but probably only in the sense that they\u2019re now 20 per cent of the way there. Having watched this team for a while, we aren\u2019t inclined to draw too many firm conclusions from the nature of the defeat.<\/p>\n

Two (days) to tango<\/p>\n

To us, the great hue and cry about the result seems a bit overblown. Yes, England lost inside two days, but it takes two teams to deliver a Test that short. England were bowled out for 172 and 164 \u2013 which is pretty dreadful \u2013 but there was actually another team involved that got bowled out for 132. <\/p>\n

As rapid as defeat was, it was way less bad than spending that same span of time fielding, which is how they\u2019ve usually gone about losing Down Under<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So there have definitely been more worrying defeats. Plus there\u2019s the fact that, more than most, this is a team capable of oscillating between the sublime and the ridiculous. Expecting them to be consistently awful honestly doesn\u2019t make a great deal more sense than expecting them to be consistently good.<\/p>\n

Back in 2022, England played like a big bag of mashed-up arseholes against South Africa at Lord\u2019s<\/a>. They got bowled out for 165 and 149 and lost by an innings. Next Test, Bens Stokes and Foakes put on 173 and they won by an innings. The one after that, they got bowled out for 158 but still won the match by nine wickets. More recently \u2013 admittedly on two very different pitches \u2013 they delivered team totals of 823-7<\/a> and 112 all out<\/a> in the same series in Pakistan.<\/p>\n

We wouldn\u2019t have them down as a predictable side, which actually makes horrific defeats a lot less meaningful. Strange things can and do happen. Remember when Zak Crawley made 189 in an Ashes Test? Zak Crawley! Try to superimpose your form guide on that one.<\/p>\n

Going for Brook<\/p>\n

England\u2019s idiosyncratic approach to risk-reward calculations quite often sees them fall flat on their arses, but the rewards they shoot for can often be sizeable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In a match full of daft shots, Brook running down the pitch and trying to hit Scott Boland over extra cover was the daftest and the fact he middled it and got six runs doesn\u2019t make it any less daft.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brook plays more daft shots than anyone. He is also England\u2019s most consistently successful batter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t to say England should go further that way. It\u2019s just emblematic of a wax-winged side who enjoy being at high altitude.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In short<\/p>\n

This England can do a lot, but sometimes it goes very, very wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It seems to us the first Test might therefore have been a rather different brand of \u2018things going very, very wrong\u2019 than the kind of \u2018things going very, very wrong\u2019 that has more usually afflicted England touring teams.<\/p>\n

We wouldn\u2019t want to make any predictions though\u2026<\/p>\n

Follow the Ashes with King Cricket<\/p>\n