'Stokes is a born winner'

As one of the game's greatest all-rounders returns from his latest injury setback, Cameron Ponsonby talks to his former teammate Steve Harmison about how Ben Stokes can rise from the ashes to lead England against India and Australia himself?' Not many people can push themselves to the extreme.

- Cameron Ponsonby

But some people can take themselves to dark places." Stokes has just returned from his latest dark place. A second major hamstring injury, which itself came off the back of a longrunning serious knee issue, means that for years we've been deprived of him at his best. Or at least at his fittest.

Scott's words came during filming for the Ben Stokes documentary on Amazon Prime, Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes. Released in 2022, it also includes this from Joe Root.

"When it gets hard, you don't need to turn to him. He comes to you," Root said. "And I think that's probably the hardest thing for him to manage as well."

Spoken in 2022, but as relevant in 2025 as ever. Here at Headingley, in just his second match since his six-month lay off, on day one of a legacy-defining 10 Test matches against India, then Australia, he got the ball in his hand and didn't let go.

"I ain't holding back," was Stokes' reply in December when asked if, after yet another injury, he'd consider lightening his bowling loads to protect his body. And he was true to his word.

A six-over spell was followed by a seven. Across a day where only three wickets fell as bat dominated ball, Stokes accounted for two of them. At the end of the innings, he had taken four wickets and bowled 20 overs. He was England's best bowler. So why should anyone else have a go?