Ben Stokes batting for England v West Indies

England captain Ben Stokes opened the batting for England in the fourth innings of the third Test against West Indies on Sunday (July 28), due to the absence of Zak Crawley.

Regular opener Zak Crawley had left the field during the third innings, having injured his finger in an attempt to take a catch (off Stokes' bowling, as it turned out).

Shortly after he had left the field, England released a statement saying Crawley had left the ground to undergo medical scans. He did not return to the field in time to open the batting for England, after pacer Mark Wood led a clean-up job of West Indies' remaining wickets to skittle them for 175 and set the hosts 82 for victory.

When England's openers emerged after the innings break, captain Ben Stokes, in a departure from his usual position at No.6, walked out to the middle alongside Ben Duckett. This was only the second time in Stokes' Test career that he had opened the batting. The first occasion had also come against West Indies, on home turf.

During the second Test against the sides in Manchester in 2020, England sent Stokes to open the third innings alongside Jos Buttler, another middle-order batter in Test cricket. In the search for quick runs and a declaration, Buttler fell early, followed by Zak Crawley. But as Joe Root and later Ollie Pope held up one end, Stokes batted with abandon at the other to flay an unbeaten 78 off 57 balls, taking England to 129-3 declared in 19 overs. They went on to win the match by 113 runs.

Stokes faced the first ball of the innings at Edgabston, like he had in Manchester. Had he gone to the non-striker's end, he would have completed the unique feat of occupying every batting position from No.s. 1-11 in his Test career.

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