Jackson Barrett: Why is Ben Stokes allowed to be the BazBall hero by defending and attacking when he sees fit

England are standing on the very cusp of another Ashes flop. At stumps on day two it felt as if captain Ben Stokes was the only thing standing between the tourists and complete disaster. That’s how it proved on the morning of day three as he played a proper skipper’s knock — in partnership with Jofra Archer — to withstand a probing spell of bowling and claw his side back to an 85-run deficit. Because he sits in the leadership team with coach Brendon McCullum and cricket boss Rob Key, Stokes has become the face of the BazBall regime. But while he does pull the strings on their crash-and-bash way, does he actually live by it himself. Stokes’ 83 across Thursday and Friday was the slowest half-century of his Test career. The two slowest 50s of the BazBall era also belong to the all-rounder. Stokes said he wanted his team to show some “dog” in Adelaide. He also said his team is no place for weak men. Are they weak men? Or are they being asked to bat in a way that doesn’t best suit their skills, only for the captain to defend for his life and attack when it suits him. Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope — who have been asked to go flat-out from the start of their Test careers — must be bemused watching it. It all just feels very avoidable and each one of Stokes’ rearguard knocks makes the whole BazBall concept more laughable. “He’s the captain and I know his strike rate is down, but it’s very hard to row an 11-man boat by yourself,” batting great Justin Langer said of Stokes. Would a team of 11 Ben Stokes’ beat Australia in a Test match? Perhaps they would, but that’s not what he’s got at the moment. This one Ben Stokes needs to find a more effective way to get the best out of the players around him. Maybe that starts with the freedom to get into their innings their own way. The shot Pope played in the first innings painted a picture of a man completely bereft of a method, or ways to score runs when things get hard or the situation changes. That extends to the way they have prepared for this series. Maybe driving e-scooters in Brisbane rather than facing the pink ball in Canberra suited some players, but there are surely top-order batters that would have liked a hit. Surely there are players that want to have more than five training sessions before a Test. England will last barely 10 days of cricket before it’s all won and done. Another uncompetitive Ashes series on home soil. Another abject failure. This one more embarrassing than perhaps any other.