Ben Stokes shows quality of the great all-rounders in England win - Jonathan Agnew
- Published
Ben Stokes hit 47 and 72 at Newlands before taking 3-35 in the final innings
It is a mark of the great all-rounders that they have the ability to suddenly step up a level whenever needed.
Ian Botham had it. Kapil Dev had it. Richard Hadlee had it. And Ben Stokes has it.
In taking the final three wickets to lead England to a 189-run victory over South Africa in the second Test, Stokes showed again he has that characteristic.
The greats have something in them that just allows them to go up a gear and win a match.
Stokes had to do it on day five at Newlands.
James Anderson was injured, Stuart Broad was not quite bowled out but had put a lot of effort in, and England needed someone to run in hard and bowl in a hostile manner to the lower order.
He finished it off with the ball, but his second innings with the bat, when he hit a magnificent 72 off 47 balls, was also vital.
The time he bought England by playing like that actually played a big part in them winning the game.
England might not have had the overs to spare late on day five if Stokes had not played so selflessly and skilfully to help his side reach a position where they could declare just after lunch on day four.
Stokes is an outstanding person who clearly loves the game.
He pushes his body to the limit every time and is a proper team man - he got as much enjoyment from Dom Sibley making his maiden Test century in Cape Town as Sibley did himself.
Stokes has got a lot of distractions at the moment with his father still in hospital but he can still turn up, perform like that and care so much about his team-mates - that's a measure of the man.
He was also superb in the field, taking six excellent catches in total, while England's catching throughout the game was brilliant and reward for having worked very hard on their fielding.
Joe Root took a very good catch to remove Dwaine Pretorius and Zak Crawley took that superb one on the rebound, which was very nonchalant from someone playing only their second Test match in such a key moment.
If you catch your catches it can get you back in the game from a position like England were in after getting bowled out for 269 in their first innings.
That was a below-par total but England still found a way to win.
It was in large part down to Anderson's bowling in taking 5-40 in South Africa's first innings, brilliant slip catching throughout and chipping away at the hosts in the second innings until Stokes could finish it off.
'I'm just trying to be Ben Stokes'
There was something utterly absurd about Cricket South Africa putting out a statement on Tuesday saying it endorses four-day Test cricket.
It is not the right way for the game to go.
People who play the game and love the game know it is not the right thing to do.
It is dangerous to have administrators messing with something that's so precious.
It is like dealing with an endangered species. Test cricket needs to be protected and have responsible administrators who are going to work out a way of making five-day cricket viable, rather than just taking the easy option and cutting it to four days.
With four-day Tests, you would not have had the finish to this Test, you would not have had the tension of the fourth day or the pulling and shoving for ascendancy on the third day.
That's what Test cricket is. You may as well can it rather than chop it down to four days.
Four-day Tests are not in the game's best interest and it is great to see Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, Tim Paine and Shane Warne and Root and Stokes saying that this must not happen.
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Jack Skelton.