Ben Stokes suddenly the hero as England fight back against New Zealand

England all-rounder Ben Stokes was left to reflect on what a difference 10 months can make after his stirring innings of 92 against New Zealand on the first day of the first test at Lord’s on Thursday.

In July last year, Stokes was out for a duck in each innings of the Lord’s test, a match India won by 95 runs to go 1-0 up in the series.

Stokes, in the thick of a miserable run of low scores for England in all formats, was dropped and it wasn’t until last month that he resumed his test career, against the West Indies in the Caribbean.

The West Indies had earlier been the scene of one of Stokes’ career lows when, in 2014, he broke his wrist hitting a locker in frustration after a golden duck in a Twenty20 match against the West Indies in Bridgetown.

“Punching the locker was a stupid moment and something, I hope, I’ll never do again – because lockers are generally harder than bones and wrists,” Stokes said after Thursday’s play.

Hours earlier, the 23-year-old Durham all-rounder had walked out to bat with England in the dire position of 30 for four after losing the toss.

However, he responded by putting on 161 for the fifth wicket with Joe Root – who also fell shy of a hundred in making 98.