Stokes put body on line for England: Root, Archer want to play more Tests
- Last updated: July 17, 2025 | 10:20
England captain Ben Stokes put his body on the line to inspire his side’s dramatic victory over India at Lord’s, according to team-mate Joe Root.
Stokes took five wickets, scored 77 runs and delivered a crucial run-out of Rishabh Pant in two innings of relentless effort from the all-rounder.
Driven on by Stokes, England won the third Test by 22 runs on a pulsating final day to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Most remarkable of all was the workload that the injury-prone Stokes put his body through as he bowled 44 overs in total, including gruelling spells of 9.2 and 10 overs on the decisive final day.
It was the most the 34-year-old has bowled in over six years and came after two severe hamstring injuries in the past 12 months.
Root watched on in awe, remembering his own attempts to stop Stokes pushing himself past the limit during his own captaincy.
“You can try, but it doesn’t make any difference. I tried for five years,” Root said.
“I mentioned it but he doesn’t always listen to me. He didn’t listen to me when I was captain!
“That’s his call now. It was an incredible effort to be able to do that, but that’s just how he’s built, I guess. He’s just desperate to be the man and make things happen.
“It’s a great sign for us moving forward, it really is, because that’s back to his best. He’s got that mentality and that desire to win games and we’re lucky to have him as our leader.”
At one stage in the first innings, England head coach Brendon McCullum sent a message via bowling consultant Tim Southee instructing his skipper to take a breather.
Root admits he was also concerned that Stokes might hit breaking point but now accepts that there is only one man who truly knows how far he can go.
“I was just panicking that he wasn’t going to make it through the game after a couple of bad injuries but he clearly trusts his body now,” he said.
“He knows what he’s doing and he’s got a good handle on where he’s at physically.”
After the match, Stokes admitted his tiredness, telling reporters that he could not wait to “just lie on my bed for four days and then be raring to go for (next week’s fourth Test at) Manchester”.
The Old Trafford Test starts on July 23.
Meanwhile, England were docked two World Test Championship (WTC) points and fined 10% match fees on Wednesday for their slow over rate in the third test against India at Lord’s.
The hosts went 2-1 up in the five-test series with a thrilling 22-run victory but were found two overs short of target in a match where the Dukes ball went out of shape several times and had to be replaced.
“England captain Ben Stokes pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing,” the International Cricket Council said in a statement.
Players lose 5% of their match fees for every over their team fail to bowl in the allotted time. It also costs the team one WTC point.
England slipped from second to third in the WTC standings behind Sri Lanka following the points deduction. Australia, who completed a 3-0 sweep of West Indies earlier this week, lead the standings in the new 2025-2027 cycle.
After missing four years of test duty due to injury, England speedster Jofra Archer is keen to make up for lost time and says he wants to play the final two tests against India and prove he deserves a place in the squad for the Ashes series in Australia.
Archer made his test comeback at Lord’s in the third test, bowling at full tilt to claim five wickets, including three in the second innings as England clinched a 22-run victory to go 2-1 up in the five-match series.
England management, men’s managing director Rob Key in particular, have been careful about Archer’s workload since his recovery from elbow and back injuries but the bowler is raring to go.
“I can play the other two (against India) if they let me,” Archer told Sky Sports.
“I don’t want to lose this series. I told ‘Keysey’ I wanted to play the test summer and I wanted to play the Ashes.
“I think one tick is already there and I will do everything possible in my power to be on the plane in November.”
It was Archer’s first test since coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum and captain Ben Stokes took the helm in 2022 and implemented an exciting result-oriented approach.
Agencies