Ben Stokes is on the brink of becoming the 76th cricketer to participate in 100 Test matches, marking him as the 16th player to achieve this milestone for England. Here are the significant statistics that outline the journey of the England Test captain in this format.
39 of Stokes's 128 sixes have come in the Ashes, the most in the competition's history, followed by Kevin Pietersen's 24. His nine sixes in the fourth innings at Lord's last year is the most by a batter in an Ashes innings, one better than what he had managed during his historic 135* at Headingley in 2019.
Stokes's 258 against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016 is the highest individual score from No.6 in Test cricket. The only higher score from No.6 or below in the format is 270 (from No.7) by Don Bradman against England in Melbourne in 1936/37.
Ben Stokes boasts an impressive win percentage of 66.67 as a Test captain, second only to Steve Waugh's remarkable 71.93 among the 149 players who have captained in at least 12 matches.
Under Stokes's captaincy, England have maintained an astonishing run rate of 4.62 runs per six balls in Test matches. This remarkable figure stands as the highest run rate achieved by any captain in Test cricket history among the 308 individuals who have led their teams in at least two matches.
During the 2016 Cape Town Test, Ben Stokes reached his double century in just 163 balls, marking it as the second fastest in Test cricket history based on balls faced. It fell short by only 10 balls compared to Nathan Astle's remarkable feat in Christchurch back in 2002, where he reached his double hundred even quicker during a memorable fourth-innings onslaught against England.
In the history of Test cricket, only five players have accomplished the rare feat of scoring 5,000 runs, claiming 100 wickets, and taking 100 catches. Alongside Stokes, these elite individuals include Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Carl Hooper, and Jacques Kallis.