You can't ignore him if he's good, bad or indifferent.
It's a well-worn cliche that England's talisman is Ben Stokes. It's also true.
On Wednesday, despite struggling for batting form on his return to the England Twenty20 team, he once again showed he could change the course of a match.
The 31-year-old is back in the T20 side for the first time since March 2021.
When you compare his approach to Test cricket this summer to the one he had in the first match, it's amazing.
The Test Match Special commentary team began to wonder if he deserved to be in the T20 team after he tried to heave Zampa out of the ground.
Henry Morean said that it wasn't the sort ofinnings that would fill them with confidence. There is no guarantee thatStokes will be in the England side for the start of the World Cup.
Ben is not a fast starter in T20s. There is a perception that does not correspond with reality.
Liam Livingstone's bowling in T20s has been expensive in the past, so I would be more inclined to look at him when he is healthy.
A lot of attention is placed on his batting as a result of his T20 international bowling average of 38.25. Some may be surprised to know that Ben Stokes has never hit a T20 half-century for England.
Livingstone has a T20 international hundred to his name and is waiting in the wings. He is expected to be able to play for England against Pakistan on Monday.
Phil Salt, who caught the attention with his aggressive batting in the T20 series victory over Pakistan, is out of the team and waiting for his chance.
Even though he is below his best in one area of the game, he is still involved in important moments in the others.
He opened the bowling for the first time in a T20 international and conceded just four runs before a piece of fielding made the crowd cringe.
It looked as if Mitchell Marsh had hit a six.
There was a white ball in the dark night sky and it was plucked from the sky by a man named Stokes. He recovered the ball after tumbling over the rope. There were six runs. England won by 8 runs.
At the end of the match, when asked what the difference was between the sides, Australia's captain said fielding. We were really bad.
It's not England.
Three balls after the boundary heroics, Curran removed Marcus Stoinis and three overs after that, just as the Australia number three looked to be cutting loose.
It made a difference in England's favor.
Australia knows a lot more than most.
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