Ben Stokes better than myself and Ian Botham, claims Andrew Flintoff

Ben Stokes is one of the finest cricketers going around on the international circuit. Recently, the all-rounder has taken his game to another level ever since he scored that scintillating century in the IPL earlier in the year. Former all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has claimed that Stokes is a better player than himself and former great Ian Botham.

The remarkable aspect about Stokes is his willingness to take responsibility. He chooses his own fielding position because he wants to remain involved in the game all the time. Stokes is a good frontline seam bowler and is quickly developing into a reliable middle order batsman. He recently notched up two hundreds in three ODIs to prove his credentials with the bat. His recent performances prompted the ECB to make him the vice-captain of the Test side after Alistair Cook stepped down.

Comparisons with former greats

Only just 26, Stokes is already being compared to Flintoff and Botham, two of England’s finest all-rounders. But Flintoff reckons that the Durham lad is a better player than himself and Botham.

“He looks like the heartbeat of the team – everything centres round what he’s doing,”

“If England need a lift or a wicket he comes on and when he comes into bat you can feel it from the team, from the crowd and sat at home watching it on TV, that there is an expectancy something is going to happen.

“Everyone compares him to me – but he’s better than me and, potentially, he’s better than Botham. Beefy won’t like it but who cares – we’ve got Ben Stokes!” Flintoff told Sky Sports.

Flintoff admired the young crop of cricketers and the brand of cricket England is playing at the moment. They don’t back down and play fearless cricket, much to the delight of the fans.

“(England) are a very good team, play a style of cricket that you want to watch and have people who kids can look up to – proper role models in Root, Stokes, Jos Buttler.

“It’s the type of team you’d love to play in – but I wouldn’t get a game!” said Flintoff.

Stokes came into prominence when he hit the fastest double century by an Englishmen off 163 balls, also the second fastest ever in Test cricket. The previous record was held by Botham, who got there in 220 balls at The Oval in 1982. Stokes, 24 at that point, promoted Botham to call the left-hander a better player than himself at the age of 24.

“As a player, he’s probably better than I was at 24,” Botham said at the time.

“He is not a jack of all trades and master of none; he is actually probably master of the three most important assets you need: batting, bowling and fielding.

“His bowling can only get better. He has all the attributes – he has pace, he can swing the ball, he can reverse it, he can bowl orthodox.

“And he is a terrific fielder close to the bat, in the covers or midwicket, backward point, or on the boundary,” Botham had said in January 2016.

Career stats of all three

There is not much difference in all three all-rounders’ record though Stokes has played just 32 Tests compared to Flintoff’s 79 and Botham’s 102. All three batsmen average in the early thirties with the bat but Stokes will definitely better it as his career goes on. The bowling averages are led by Botham, who averages 28.40 after taking 383 wickets. Flintoff’s was 32.78 and Stokes had the lowest amongst the three – 34.46 after picking 79 wickets.