Ben Stokes: A long, tough day in the field for England

Ben Stokes (Right) during the first day’s play against India at Lord’s

England’s Ben Stokes, speaking to the media after the end of day 1 of the second Test against India at Lord’s, praised Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for his determination to play useful knocks before expressing his disappointment over the situation that the home team find themselves in.

"Kumar seemed to hang around quite well. He played and missed on a number of occasions but his nicks went into the gaps. We had a long, tough day in the field," said Stokes.

When asked about his side’s failure to close out the Indian innings despite picking up the first seven wickets for 145, the fast bowling all-rounder said: "It is a little bit frustrating, especially with their tail doing well. But credit must go to Ajinkya Rahane for the way he batted. It was a really good knock from him and we can take positives from the fact that we restricted them to 140-odd runs for seven wickets before he played that knock."

Did England bowlers err in length?

India batted reasonably well in the morning session not allowing England to make early inroads, ending with 73 on the board for the loss of two wickets. The 23-year-old felt that the bowling unit, which was criticised for bowling short, improved as the day progressed.

"No, we were happy with our lengths but our lines could have been a bit tighter in the morning, more towards the stumps. The movement was a bit excessive compared to Trent Bridge and we corrected it. They had played a lot more and missed in second session and we got quite a few wickets then.

"But bowling short in the last session wasn't my plan. I wasn't privy to the chat between Jimmy (Anderson) and (Alastair) Cook. (Mohammed) Shami was looking alright, so the plan was to get him off the strike and target Ishant Sharma's wicket," he added.

Matching James Anderson:

On James Anderson, who went past Fred Trueman to become the highest wicket-taker in England, the New Zealand-born said: "Full credit to him, the way he has bowled today. It is good to concentrate on cricket and try to be professional. He showed that today and it was good to watch him bowl like that.

“He is very consistent and knows his game inside out. He plays the game hard and sets up batsmen. Hopefully, I can play at his level one day.”