The Athlete's Voice

Stokesy joins Sobers and Kallis in elite club

England captain and 4CAST founder reaches twin landmarks of 200 wickets and 6,000 runs in Test cricket
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
The AThlete's Voice
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Ben Stokes joined an elite club of all-rounders during the first Test against West Indies.

The England captain and 4CAST founder became only the third player to reach the joint landmarks of 200 wickets and 6,000 runs in Test cricket.

Stokesy dismissed Kirk McKenzie to join West Indies great Sir Garfield Sobers (235 wickets, 8032 runs) and South Africa star Jacques Kallis (292 wickets, 13,289 runs).

The first Test against West Indies at Lord's marked Ben's return as a genuine all-rounder after a lengthy period of rehabilitation following a knee injury had restricted his bowling.

Speaking to The Athlete's Voice ahead of the Test series, Stokesy explained how much that meant to him.

"I’ve been an all-rounder since I was a kid," he said. "I’ve batted and bowled [since] I first ever started playing cricket.

"The last 18 months, two years, have been frustrating knowing that I can’t do what I have been doing on a consistent basis. I’ve had some days and some games where I’ve felt all right and I’ve done a bit more, then I’ve had some games where I’m like, I can’t.

"And that is... It not only hurts you personally, but I know it sort of hurts the team because of the role which I play as the fourth seamer in the team.

"It’s probably a bit over-the-top but we’ve basically been playing with three seamers and a spinner for the last 18 months, two years, and that’s because of me.

"So it has been hard to watch and hard to know that I wish I could be doing more. But now I’m the fourth seamer, batting at six, back to what I’ve been doing."

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