Peter Hayter says the hole left by the world’s best all-round cricketer was always likely to prove too big for England to fill

Peter Hayter

Double trouble: Ben Stokes was worth two key players to England this winter
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The Ashes may be three weeks cold but the fact that the hottest topic in England cricket is still Ben Stokes is a reminder that Joe Root’s side travelled to Australia with almost no chance of retaining the Urn and ended up merely living down to expectations.
We did our best to persuade each other and ourselves that the hole left by the be...