Will Stokes be around to stay tall?

Ben Stokes deserves every accolade that has come his way for all but leading England to an Ashes win Probably the 22 scoreline was a fair result with the Australians failing to win yet another Ashes series on English soilHardcore Australia fans would be disappointed with the result and thatrsquos understandable because 22 years is a long wait for an Ashes capture on enemy territory Ricky Ponting in 2005 and 2009 Michael Clarke 2013 and 2015 Tim Paine 2019mdashall didnrsquot have the honour of winning a series in England after Steve Waughrsquos men did so in 2001Meanwhile England supporters couldnrsquot have asked for a better result at The Oval after rain robbed the hosts of a win at ManchesterThat Stokes has played an integral part in denying Australia that urn in three consecutive Englandhosted Ashes series does wonders for his cricketing CVMichael Vaughan who led England to a historic Ashes in 2005 reckons Stokes can end up being the greatest England captain for the way he has led a team that has changed the way Test cricket is playedStokes has already earned the right to be called a great England captain who has won 13 out of 19 Tests Of course hersquoll probably have to win a series in Australia to give that lsquogreatrsquo tag more weightage Whether he will be around for the next Ashes in Australia two and a half years later is the big questionEngland captains who have led their teams to triumphs on Australian soil have enjoyed exalted status Douglas Jardine did not top the popularity charts for subjecting Bill Woodfullrsquos Australian team to Bodyline bowling He was dogged and determined in his quest to blunt Don Bradmanrsquos runmaking and he did so Bradman averaged 5657 over four Tests in the notorious 193233 series but the batting legend averaged 20150 in his previous seriesmdashagainst South Africa in 193132Jardine led England to a 41 win in the Australian summer of 193233 with pace terror Harold Larwood being his main weapon Since Jardine only five England captains have experienced series wins in Australia Len Hutton led a successful team in 195455 and was aided to a large extent by pacers Frank Tyson and Brian Statham Tyson was terrifying accumulating 28 wickets over five Tests in a 31 resultIn A Typhoon Called Tyson the late fast bowler wrote of his captain Hutton ldquoI have good reason to know that Len Hutton was a shrewd judge of cricket its playersand situationsrdquoRay Illingworth was the next England captain to win a series in Australia and he had John Snow as his pace ace Snow was viewed as a difficult man to handle but Illingworth got the best out of him and even became the first Test captain to walk off along with his team in response to Snow being manhandled by a spectator at the Paddington end of the Sydney Cricket Ground When things calmed down Illingworth amp Co returned and what followed was Englandrsquos 20 Ashes victoryDerek Underwood that great leftarm spinner felt Illingworth was just as shrewd as his Kent captain Colin Cowdrey ldquoIllingworth never gave the impression of being at all indecisive He seemed to know exactly where he was going with every step he took every decision he maderdquo wrote Underwood in his 1975 book Beating the BatMike Brearley led England to a 51 Ashes win Down Under in 197879 during Kerry Packerrsquos World Series Cricket Australia were without their stars and under recalled skipper Bob Simpson fielded a third string side Brearleyrsquos tactical brilliance couldnrsquot eventuate in another series win in Australia His team lost 03 in 197980It took England eight years to win their next series on Australian soil They were led by the street smart Mike Gatting who had taken over from David Gower in 1986Gattingrsquos team overwhelmed Allan Borderrsquos men 21 in a summer which England supporters viewed as a Grand Slam An Ashes triumph was accompanied by the Perth Challenge silverware and the World Series Cup triangular seriesCelebrated cricket writer Peter Roebuck now deceased liked what he saw after Englandrsquos opening Test win at Brisbane ldquoI had arrived in Brisbane fully expecting to condemn Peter Lush as manager Micky Stewart as coach things have not gone well at Surreymdashthey rarely do these daysmdashmaybe itrsquos something to do with the gasometersInstead they seem to have helped Gatting to knock the team into shape England worked hard in the field and played as a team which for once did not have a false idea of its powersrdquo Roebuck wrote in Ashes to Ashes a tour book on the 198687 summer Englandrsquos next and last series triumph in Australia came in 201011 with Andrew Strauss in charge Future captain Alastair Cook topped the run charts with 766 and England had an impressive pace cartel of James Anderson Stuart Broad Steven Finn Chris Tremlett and Tim Bresnan which led to England winning 31Stokesrsquos two Test tours to Australia 201314 and 202122 were disastrous for England Unfinished business he sure does have provided he decides to open shopmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper