“I don’t usually like comparing players, but you see glimpses of what Gilly used to do in Jonny’s performance for England in the Headingley Test against Sri Lanka”, added the former Australia fast bowler, who played worldwide cricket alongside free-scoring keeper Gilchrist.
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That meeting will take place on Tuesday, when Stokes’ fellow all-rounder Woakes and Jake Ball – the seamer who was picked in a Test squad for the first time at Headingley – will join England, after leaving their ongoing matches in the Specsavers County Championship.
James Anderson piled on the agony for Sri Lanka as England closed in on a crushing win in the first Test at Headingley on Saturday.
England will play Sri Lanka in a three match Test series this summer.
England wicket-keeper Jonathan Bairstow was named man-of-the-match for making 140 in England’s total of 298 on his Yorkshire home ground and holding nine catches in the game.
“Jonny Bairstow was batting on a different wicket to the other 21 players in this match”.
“You saw that development on the South Africa tour and he has gone from strength to strength since then”.
Anderson led the line with 5-28, following up the five wickets he took on Friday, with Steven Finn picking up three scalps. Bairstow, the son of the late David Bairstow, himself a Yorkshire and England wicket-keeper, has had a stop-start worldwide career since making his limited overs debut in 2011.
Stokes has been replaced in the squad for the Second Test at Durham, which starts on Friday, by Chris Woakes.
“We have talked about whether he should bat at five”, he said.
“I remember the first time I saw him play, at Scarborough, he played differently to everyone else – we couldn’t stop him scoring”.
An utter collapse in their first turn with the bat has Sri Lanka staring down the barrel of the gun and with England enforcing the follow on there’s a good chance that this match could be over on day 3. “To come to your home ground and do well, it is one of those things where you want to impress everyone”.
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He took his maiden five-wicket haul and scored his first Test century during that tour, which ended the global careers of players like Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior, and damaged the confidence of others.
