Hi all - New forum member here. I've been reading this thread throughout the test and it has really added to the enjoyment of the whole thing, so thank you everyone!
As an England supporter I am generally a fan of Stokes as captain. However, what I find off-putting is the ambivalence at the heart of his approach.
On the one hand, he sometimes says, 'we are hyper-aggressive because we want to win at all costs, and will therefore take higher risk options if they increase our chances of winning, even if they also increase our chances of losing'. That is a totally respectable approach and I am on board for it. If you understand the first-day declaration in that spirit then I think you can respect the idea of it, even if you think it was a bad call. Similarly, dropping Foakes as wicket-keeper was (I think) a bad call if your main aim is to win games. But I can respect the thought process. I agree with the strategy, even if I disagree with some of the tactics.
On the other hand, he often says, 'we aren't results-orientated, and our primary aim is to entertain; if that means losing, so be it'. He (and others) then point to the fifth day drama as evidence that this approach is working. I really dislike this approach. We all love dramatic finishes, but the drama has to develop organically. If Stokes is making captaincy decisions to create drama, then the whole thing feels a bit artificial and detracts from the experience. If Stokes declared on day-one because he is 'not results orientated', then it is not a decision I can respect, and I can understand why people view it as arrogant and performative. It also feels dishonest to me, because I can't believe that all these elite sportspeople are not bothered whether they win or lose.
I am not much of a fan of T20 cricket, and a big part of the reason for that is that the drama does feel confected. A lot of T20 games turn on extremely fine margins, but that is because the format of the game is designed to create those fine margins. As such, I can't get too excited about last-ball drama in T20. Stokes wants to 'save test cricket', but if he is doing it by confecting drama, then he is making it more like T20. Lots of people love T20 so maybe that is fine, but it doesn't appeal to me.
I rationalise all of this for myself by believing that Stokes is genuinely trying to win, and the stuff about not being results-orientated is a front to try and remove pressure from the team. But if so I wish he would just be clear about it and say, 'our goal is to win every game, and that will sometimes mean that we take high risk options. I also believe that we play at our best when we are not afraid to lose, so as a team we are developing a culture where we are not afraid of failure'. If he said that I would feel less ambivalent about the whole thing.
Anyway, thanks again for the thread! Looking forward to the rest of the summer.