Ben Stokes goals No 1 spot in international Test ratings: ‘One more place to go’

England underneath Ben Stokes have by no means lacked ambition, however they pass right into a defining length of Test cricket with one specifically in thoughts: to change into the primary England aspect in 15 years to take best spot within the International Cricket Council’s ratings, formally the most productive on the earth.

“If we win what we’ve got coming up, the likelihood is that we will be at the top of that leaderboard,” Stokes mentioned. “There’s no doubt in my mind we have the ability to be that team.”

The ICC’s newest annual replace positioned England at No 2, at the back of Australia, with five-match sequence towards India this summer season and the Australians within the iciness to practice the one-off recreation towards Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge that begins on Thursday.

England remaining took the No 1 rating in August 2011, on their approach to beating India 4-0 at house, sooner than shedding it once more towards South Africa the next summer season. The chance of repeating that feat has been mentioned by means of Stokes, the trainer Brendon McCullum, and the ECB’s managing director of guys’s cricket, Rob Key.

“When the rankings came out, I did send Baz and Keys [Rob Key] a text saying: ‘We’ve got one more place to go’,” Stokes mentioned. “Baz uses this phrase a lot: ‘We’re starting from a place of strength.’ For us to be able to build on that, and everyone knows that we’ve got improvement to do. It’s very exciting that we are where we are as a team at the moment. Everyone understands and knows we’ve definitely got another level to go to.”

One phrase specifically was once to the fore as Stokes laid out the trail forward for England at the eve in their first recreation of the summer season: “The word I love and what I’ve tried to instil in this team is ‘dominance’ and ‘dominate’,” he mentioned. “Whatever situation we find ourselves in, that’s the word I want to be at the front of our heads. I want this team to dominate series, to dominate days, dominate every session. It’s not always going to happen like that, but that’s the mindset I want us to go out with every single day, so everything is aimed towards winning.”

News of a recent damage setback for Jofra Archer, whose broken proper thumb has dominated him out of the impending ODI sequence towards West Indies – for which Lancashire’s Luke Wood has been drafted in – and the England Lions recreation he was once hoping to make use of as a springboard right into a summer season of red-ball cricket, is recent proof that plans can pass awry.

The Lions squad was once introduced and Stokes himself would possibly sign up for it relying on his efficiency towards Zimbabwe, his first aggressive motion since December, when he tore his hamstring in Hamilton. “It will just be how I feel at the end of this, if I feel I need any more game time before we head into India,” he mentioned.

Stokes insisted the Zimbabwe recreation was once “our sole focus at the moment” however he is probably not on my own in pondering forward to the India sequence, which begins at Headingley on 20 June – in particular after the captain mentioned probably the most batters on this recreation will likely be making means for Jacob Bethell as soon as the 21-year-old, who returned from his debut sequence in New Zealand within the iciness with 3 half-centuries and a mean of 52, returns from the IPL.

“If you talk about nailing down a position, Beth has done himself the world of good by the performances he put in there, with being part of our plans going forward,” Stokes mentioned. “Obviously he’s going to be back in the UK for that India series, so I think you can put two and two together.”