Ben Stokes apologises to England team-mates for acting like a ‘grumpy old man’

Ben Stokes has revealed he apologised to his team for acting like a “grumpy old man” as the second Test in Pakistan slipped through England’s hands in Multan.

The tourists tumbled to a 152-run defeat as Pakistan squared the series 1-1 on the fourth morning, with 38-year-old spinner Noman Ali cleaning up with eight for 46.

On a pitch offering extreme turn England were set a near-impossible chase of 297 but were left kicking themselves on the third afternoon when they put down two catches in the space of three Brydon Carse deliveries. The lucky batter, Salman Agha, was spared on four by wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and six by slip Joe Root and went on to make them pay with a vital 63.

Captain Stokes uncharacteristically let his exasperation show during the difficult session, glaring at the drops and yelling in frustration at England’s weary fielding.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, he admitted regretting his reaction.

“It’s the first time in my captaincy that I’ve let my emotions show in my body language, with how I was feeling as the game was unfolding,” he said.

“I apologised to the group and said that was poor of me. I was a tired and grumpy old man last night. You won’t see that happen again.

“I owned up to that and I’m very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It’s something that I don’t want to do, or be seen to be doing.

“No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are out in these subcontinent conditions, because they don’t come along that often.”

Stokes had cause to regret a handling error of his own as England slipped to 144 all out, charging Noman but swinging so hard that he lost control and launched his bat 20 yards in the air towards square leg as Mohammed Rizwan stumped him.

It was a neat visual metaphor for his side’s collective effort to make a wildly unlikely chase of 297: a big swing with nothing to show for it.

“Yeah, I’ll try and remember to keep holding my bat the next time,” Stokes said with a half smile.

“Look, it was always going to be a very, very tough task, but we backed ourselves to chase that down and I think it was pretty evident from the way we had to go and play.

“It was always going to be in the bowlers’ favour when there is so much going on (with the pitch). You couldn’t just look to sit in there at that time because there was always going to be one with your name on it.”

England leave Multan with scores level after back-to-back games on the same pitch. England won the first after making the most of a run-fest on a flat deck but became sitting ducks after Pakistan won the toss on the crumbling surface.

Nobody yet knows what awaits in Rawalpindi, a venue not known for offering drastic spin, but Stokes is ready for the shootout.

“I think it sets a series up brilliantly. That’s why I think it should always be an odd number of games in a series because you want there to be a winner,” he said.

“We’ve got no idea what type of conditions we’re going to be faced with for the last Test match and we’ll just have to wait and see what we get presented with.”

Opposite number Shan Masood, who tasted victory for the first time in seven attempts as captain and also registered Pakistan’s first win on home soil since February 2021, would love another dusty turner but knows it may not be possible.

“I would (love it), but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it turn in Rawalpindi, that’s another issue,” he said.

“Three years and many months (without a home win), that’s not acceptable for Pakistan cricket. You want a side that can win anywhere, hopefully we can start something in home conditions.”