How Ben Stokes got his bowling mojo back

In the lead-up to the first Test against India at Headingley, several adjectives were doing the rounds around the England camp. "Freak" and "beast" were among them, with the odd curse word thrown ahead of them for dramatic effect.

It is rare that anything in an England training session elicits such a strong reaction. But two days out from the curtain raiser of this five-match series, Ben Stokes had bowled an 11-over spell.

That volume of bowling so close to a Test match is unheard of, just two balls shy of the amount he had bowled against Zimbabwe a month earlier. Those sessions are generally about tapering into the grind of five days. Not for, say, going full tilt, at consistent pace and widening the eyes of those watching on.

Stokes has always set the standard in training. Since the start of the year, following an operation on his second right hamstring tear in six months, he has also set himself new standards. Having put in the work behind the scenes, this was about getting overs back into his legs ahead of his second competitive match of 2025.

The fruits of that intense labour were clear for all to see in Leeds. Stokes bowled 20 overs in the first innings, taking 4 for 66 across three spells of six, seven and seven. The 15 in the second innings - 1 for 47 - was split five, six and four.

Throughout it all, he was England's most threatening bowler. Across both sets of quicks, he produced the most swing, averaging 1.453 degrees, ahead of Chris Woakes (1.118), Brydon Carse (1.074), Mohammed Siraj (0.899), Jasprit Bumrah (0.895) and the rest. The average speed clocked in at 83.9mph, with a high of 88.9mph. All without even a hint of discomfort.

"He was incredible," said Chris Woakes, who managed just one wicket in 43 overs last week. "Without him having played a load of cricket leading into the Test match, for him to come in and do what he did and hit his straps at good pace… I thought he was amazing."

"On a good pitch, he looked threatening every time he came on - with newer ball or older.

"I think what you saw last week was he was incredibly consistent with what he was trying to do. His relentlessness and his energy on the ball was as good as I've seen for a long time. So that's a good sign for us and for him."

It was instructive that Woakes, as the leader of the attack, lauded the way Stokes took charge. "We all know what Stokes is capable of, but it's great to have your leader being able to grab the ball like that and showing you the way sometimes."

This bowling iteration of Stokes has not been around for some time. Indeed, the man himself has sought reminders as to just how effective he was, and could be again.

On the eve of the first Test, Stokes revealed he uses the 2020 Cape Town Test as a visual guide to the rhythm he wants to feel again. A late, three-wicket spell on the final day blew away South Africa's tail to take England to victory. Stokes was flying off the back of a legend-making 2019, at the peak of his powers. That Test he averaged 86.4mph with the ball, with a few deliveries clocking in just over 91mph.

None of that has been taken for granted, and the man himself sees no reason why he could not return to those heights. That he has opted out of The Hundred this season is a concession that, aged 34, he will have to park other forms of the game if he is to eke out what is left of himself as a top-tier Test quick.

There is an alternate universe where Stokes was not pushed down the all-trades path and became a premier seam-and-swing bowler. Throughout his Durham Academy years, he was often the quickest in a cohort that included Mark Wood. There have even been a few Tests, such as 2017 at Lord's against South Africa, when Stokes was the quicker of the two.

Barring a useful growth spurt gave him that "hard-length trajectory", Stokes' craft has been honed through his own graft and experimentation, which has not dimmed.

He picks up things quickly, such as the wobble seam that James Anderson taught him last year, even if he does not feel comfortable bringing it out just yet as it still feels weird in the hand. During the previous Test, he served up a couple of dipping slower balls to Rishabh Pant that he had workshopped in advance. The left-hander seemed suitably impressed, particularly with the first, which caught him by surprise, even if he did negotiate them well.

A combination of England's backroom staff have assisted his rebuilding effort: assistant coach Paul Collingwood and lead bowling coach Neil Killeen more involved with the skills, with Pete Sim (physical preperation coach) and Ben Davies (men's physiotherapist) monitoring the physical side of things. But most of the grind has been lonesome, with Chester-le-Street as his usual base.

Allowing that work to be both intense and regular has been the knee surgery Stokes underwent in November 2023. In turn, bad habits have been unpicked.

Having played through the pain (unwisely at times), he developed two issues. One was that he could not really work on skills or new tricks because of the need to recover from match to match. The other was developing unwanted kinks due to having to overcompensate for the knee which, while putting strain on other parts of his body, also saw him lose a few strengths.

The biggest strength he seems to have reclaimed is his braced front leg. Stokes used to take pride in it, often zooming in on side-shots of his action to show it off to the other quicks.

That left leg began bending as the knee deteriorated and became ill-equipped to cope with 10-times Stokes' bodyweight upon landing. As such, Stokes lost pace, which he tried to make up for with his run-up. Since the start of January 2022, only Kagiso Rabada (113) has bowled more front-foot no-balls than Stokes (82). It's worth noting Rabada has bowled 184.2 more overs than Stokes during this period.

Even pre-existing bad habits began to fester. After spells not bowling, Stokes has a knack of curving his approach to the crease, resulting in a conflict between his upper and lower body.

He runs in, moves out towards cover, before jumping in the direction of fine leg. Nothing is aligned and the wrist not quite behind the ball. It usually takes a few sessions to sort that one, but when Stokes was unable to get them in the bank, he just had to deal with it. In turn, he lost the effectiveness of his late inswinger, a vital weapon in his armoury. He ended up developing a less effective one by leaping to the left and cantering his arm to try and bend the ball back in.

All of these now seem like yesterday's problems. For the first time in five years, Stokes has started a series on solid foundations.

"I can't remember the last time I was able to work so hard on just technical stuff of bowling in particular," Stokes said before the series, citing the fact the last few years have been mainly spent on keeping his loads up rather than fine-tuning. "To be able to do some really, really good technical work and getting myself back to sort of where I feel like I was before I had my injuries is really good, because there was naturally quite a few changes that crept into my action."

Alongside a "new" knee and reinforced hamstring has been a hyperdrive with his conditioning. Stokes is never one to do things by halves and this is the latest focus of his addictive personality.

When he got into golf, he invested in the best clubs. His gaming obsession led to a set-up to rival those of professional eSport teams. Even cutting down on his alcohol consumption led him to investing in a company that specialises in alcohol-free drinks.

Now, fitness is the new obsession. Beyond the tell-tale signs of such a fad - the Whoop watch, monitoring his steps, the Instagram reels of gym sessions replete with unenthusiastic voiceovers - has been a striking streamlining of his physique, reducing the strain on joints and improving suppleness.

"You can see the physical state he's in, he's in really good condition," Woakes said. "The injuries that he's had, he's probably just doubled down on his fitness to make sure he is in the best shape possible to be able to lead this team at his best."

That, ultimately, is what drives Stokes. Not explicitly the desire to be the best bowler he can be, or the fittest he can be, but being the best possible leader for his team.

There is plenty at stake in this critical period of his Test captaincy, with the challenge of India and Australia ticked off by next January. Stokes' availability throughout it all is integral to England's hopes across both challenges as an allrounder to help balance an XI and provide for a bowling attack that requires his gumption as much as his guidance.

Ahead of this week at Edgbaston, it is worth recalling England's victory over India here back in 2018. Then, Stokes was the quickest bowler in both innings, eventually finishing the match with a spell not unlike his South Africa blitz two years later, taking 3 for 15 in 4.2 overs.

That is the next frontier for Stokes, the bowler, to reclaim. Headingley showed the skills and durability remain. Rediscovering the fire and fury of old will take a little longer.