England miss Ben Stokes as New Zealand close on Oval victory
Ben Stokes’ absence had become England’s central problem by day five at The Oval, with Josh Tongue admitting the side had missed its captain as New Zealand pushed for victory.
England’s second Test unravelled into a sharper question than selection alone: how much does Ben Stokes hold this side together? As New Zealand closed in on a comprehensive victory at The Oval, Josh Tongue became the first England player to openly admit what the scoreline had already suggested, that England had missed their captain’s influence badly.
England went into the fifth day needing 281 runs with six wickets still in hand, yet the match had already tilted decisively toward New Zealand, who were on course to level the series and send it to a decider in Nottingham. Stokes and Gus Atkinson were ruled out while the England and Wales Cricket Board investigation into a late-night London nightclub incident continued, leaving Joe Root to captain England in an interim role he last held across 64 Tests between 2017 and 2022.
The timing mattered. England had beaten New Zealand by 115 runs in the first Test at Lord’s, but the fallout from the nightclub incident, in which a member of England’s security staff needed stitches, stripped the side of its two senior figures and changed the shape of the contest. Root brought calm and familiarity, but not Stokes’s full package of authority, aggression and all-round flexibility. That was the gap New Zealand exploited.
Tongue’s admission points to more than a simple absence in the XI. England missed Stokes most in leadership and balance, because his presence ordinarily lets the side commit to a clear plan and absorb pressure when sessions begin to drift. Without him, England looked less certain of their methods and less forceful in the moments that should have mattered most. New Zealand’s control of the match exposed how much of England’s identity still runs through one player.
Stokes’ return to Durham on Saturday underlined the scale of what England lacked. He scored 95 against Northamptonshire, his highest score in any format since the Test century he made against India in the fourth Test last July, and showed he remained ready for work with bat in hand. But at The Oval, England were left measuring the cost of his absence in runs, control and authority. Tongue’s acknowledgement made the point plainly: this was not just a selection issue, but a reminder of how heavily England still lean on Ben Stokes when the contest turns.
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