"Keira Knightley may not spring immediately to mind as a source of inspiration for Ben Stokes' captaincy but her tactics for dealing with the paparazzi at the height of her fame recalled some of Stokes' early forays with the armband. Knightley recently explained to Graham Norton that she refused to have anyone follow her, so would stand stock still for hours at a time until the photographers got bored or, better, weirded out."
"There was logic. Carse is an aggressive batter with two first-class centuries (that's two more than Bethell ) and he can clear the boundary rope only Harry Brook has hit more sixes than him in this series. A few meaty swipes would have taken a decent chunk out of England's remaining target of 126. It was also refreshing to see Stokes get back to the funky captaincy that was such a hallmark of his early time in charge."
"More of this would be welcome in Sydney, especially if Cricket Australia orders up a flat pitch in order to try to recoup lost funds from the pair of two-day finishes in this series. Remember Stokes setting those umbrella fields in Pakistan and opting to kick off a Test with the spin of Jack Leach? Leach became the first England spinner to open the bowling on day one of a Test match for 101 years."
Keira Knightley refused to be followed by paparazzi, standing stock still for hours until photographers became bored or unsettled. Brydon Carse was promoted to No.3 during England's successful chase in Melbourne, drawing gasps from the crowd and triggering a spike in social media and messages. Carse scored six runs while batting aggressively, briefly puncturing tension and buying time for Jacob Bethell. Carse holds two first-class centuries and a high six-hitting rate, behind only Harry Brook in the series. Ben Stokes returned to unconventional captaincy tactics, previously using umbrella fields and opening with Jack Leach; Shoaib Bashir remained unselected.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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