England Coach Trevor Bayliss was quick to praise all-rounder Ben Stokes following his figures of 6-36, as England clinched the Investec Ashes in just three days at Trent Bridge.
Stokes claimed his six wickets during the second innings, as Australia were bowled out for 253, giving the hosts victory by an innings and 78 runs.
Bayliss doesn’t want to put too much pressure on the Durham player, but believes Stokes is going to be an important member of the international side going into future fixtures.
“We don’t want to put too much expectation on him by saying he’s going to be the next Botham or Flintoff, but he will be the next Ben Stokes,” he said.
“Certainly I think his batting is right up there, but his bowling as we saw today he could be another Jimmy Anderson. So to have that rolled up into one player going forward is a good thing for English cricket, and on top of that he’s probably the best fielder in the team as well.
“The ability to swing it both ways as much as he did, and for a good deal of the time put it in the right spot, he obviously made it very difficult the batters and he got his just desert.
“Where he will end up I am sure we will all enjoy watching.”
England dominated the Test at Trent Bridge and the victory put the hosts 3-1 up in the series, and Bayliss reflected on the side’s performances and the impressive captaincy of Alastair Cook.
“I think the Australian team is in a little bit of a transition period, but the England team were good enough to exploit that weakness,” said Bayliss.
“You want the group of players to be happy, enjoying the game with a smile on their face.
“Cook is very well respected in the dressing room not just because of his own record, but because of the type of person he is.
“From a captaincy point of view, he has captained extremely well in this series so far, he’s proactive not reactive, and I think the results speak for themselves.”
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