The whole of England stood up to Ben Stokes yet again in just over one month as he played one of the finest Test innings ever to help his side beat Australia by a solitary wicket in the 3rd Ashes Test which also enabled to keep the Ashes alive. The allrounder smashed a sensational 135 and shared a 73 runs stand with the No 11 batsman, Jack Leach to take England to a historic victory.
Following his stupendous knock, the boss of English Premier League team Steve Bruce has offered Stokes the centre half position for Newcastle United albeit in a joking manner. The Newcastle United Boss witnessed the last few matches of the epic clash. England were literally done and dusted when Stokes carried them on his shoulders and took them to a famous victory.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
After his knock Steve Bruce jokingly said that he would gladly accept Stokes as the centre half for Newcastle United.
“I don’t know what was more nervous. The last 10 minutes of the cricket or this [match]. Ben Stokes can play centre-half for us next week that’s for sure,” Bruce told reporters. “How wonderful it was to watch. [The cricket] was just on. They [Newcastle] had gone for a warm-up and there’s nothing you can do then. I usually sit and read the programme.
“But how could I not watch? The kitman was running around … saying ‘We need 27, we’ve got to put it on.’ It was wonderful entertainment, worth watching. It was better than reading the programme that’s for sure.”
Stokes is a huge fan of Newcastle United as he resides in Durham. Following Stokes’ historic knock, Bruce stated that Newcastle did everything possible to silence their critics. Meanwhile former Ennglish speedster Bob Willis also heaped praise on en Stokes and rated this knock better than Ian Botham’s 149 in the same ground back in 1981.