England hope to strike a healthy balance between work and play and at the start of this Ashes week, as Australia trained at the ground to prepare for the first Test, the tourists were being, well, tourists.
As well as the usual golfers, a handful of players took a boat trip out to Rottnest Island, with Brydon Carse later showing off an impressive fish he had caught. No doubt some of the grouchier past players would sooner his mind was on reeling in a far bigger one: Steve Smith.
But they resumed in earnest on Tuesday morning in nets that had Joe Root purring about their quality. There was certainly more pace and bounce than during the warmup game at Lilac Hill last week, Root confident that three good sessions is plenty before Friday’s big push.
The most positive news was Mark Wood’s 40-minute spell, with a recent scan on a stiff hamstring showing no injury. And contrary to the wider perception, and the eclectic music blaring out of the speakers, England get serious when they train – none more so than their captain.
Watching Ben Stokes go about his work remains a sight to behold, no stone left unturned and a high bar set for the squad at large. He was last to leave the lanes on Monday, his only real inconvenience being an eye-watering blow to the box from Josh Hull (the left-armer part of the Lions tour but roped in to replicate Mitchell Starc’s angle).
A couple of weeks ago David Warner was naturally asked about the potential for sledging during this Ashes series and while he expected the odd flare up, the former opener warned against aiming any jibes at Stokes. “If we can sort of not poke that bear and get him up and about,” he said. “I think that will help the Australians enormously.”
It was a nice line – the news editors at the West Australian clearly didn’t get the memo – but Stokes is likely to be “up and about” regardless. As well as being the culmination of a four-year project cast in his aggressive image, there is a personal mission at play: unfinished business or a point to prove, to grab a couple from the bucket of sporting cliches.
Whether Stokes actively views this tour as such is another matter. Like Ian Botham before him, he tends to only ever look forward. But Perth is a significant place for him, the city where he announced himself in late 2013 with a maiden Test century – 120 from 195 balls aged just 22 years old – to finish the one positive from a 5-0 capitulation.
“The Australians did [Stokes] no favours in their drive to secure the Ashes,” wrote Mike Selvey, recognising the special talent that had thrived on a cracked Waca surface. “He was harried and chivvied, abused, bounced, and rattled. All of it was treated with indifference.”
The six-wicket haul that followed in Sydney weeks later ticked a second box; confirmation of a burgeoning all-rounder boasting heart and skill. Thereafter, and despite a career with some significant peaks, away Ashes tours have not exactly been his best friend.
First came the 2017-18 Ashes. As England were being outgunned to the tune of 4-0, Stokes was on the other side of the Tasman Sea, playing domestic cricket for Canterbury in the faint hope that his ban for the infamous Bristol street fight that summer would be lifted.
“I lived every moment of the Ashes,” he told me the following year, before being acquitted of affray. “I’m sure it was nowhere near the emotions of the guys out there but I was just as gutted.”
Stokes at least made the trip four years later – another 4-0 defeat – but was a shadow of his best self. A three-month break to recover from anxiety and depression during the English summer was followed by some low-key returns, his body undercooked and his batting undergrooved.
“I look back on that Ashes and accept it was too early,” he later admitted, having tried – and failed – to help his close friend, Root, then the captain. “I let the excitement and history of the Ashes get the better of my thinking.”
Clear of those dark times, Stokes is in a very different spot, emboldened by a career-best summer with the ball – 20 wickets at 24 – and refreshed by a detour via New Zealand to see family. He looks in serious shape too, just lacking a hammer for the full thunder god look.
This has been said before, of course, only for injury to then strike – the inherent risk of his full throttle approach. Players and coaches still talk about trying to rein in those marathon bowling spells, only for him to snatch the ball and reel off umpteen straight overs.
But should Stokes stay fit over the next two months then the locals may well see the very best of a cricketer who emerged from the rubble here 12 years ago. Poked or otherwise, the bear is key to England’s chances.
