A ‘warrior’ who puts his body on the line – Paul Collingwood hails Ben Stokes

Paul Collingwood praised Ben Stokes’ “warrior” spirit after he stepped into the breach following Mark Wood’s injury in England’s first Test against the West Indies.

Wood was suffering from pain in his right elbow and sent down five overs on the third morning in Antigua before admitting defeat.

He spent the rest of the day under the watchful eye of medical staff, but England sorely missed him on the field, where they watched Nkrumah Bonner’s marathon century push the hosts into a 62-run lead on 373 for nine.

It was a day of slow grind at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, with just 171 runs scored in three sessions and five wickets falling.

If Wood is not fit to resume duties in the second innings that would seriously compromise the prospects of a side who are already without one first-choice bowler in Ollie Robinson.

The picture would have been even more troubling for England had Stokes not shouldered a heavy burden, sending down 28 overs for figures of two for 42.

Just a few days ago he was not expected to play any part with the ball, with a cautious recovery plan from his recent side strain. But, with his side up against it, he dug deep, taking more than his share of the load to become the standout bowler on show.

“It’s fair to say that he declared himself fit to bowl in this first innings,” said interim head coach Collingwood.

“None of us were expecting that many overs out of him. Obviously we had to be pretty cautious with the approach, but, Ben being Ben, he wants to be in the competition.

“When you lose overs from somewhere else, he’ll want to make overs up. He’s a battler. His attitude has been absolutely superb and he’s shown today what kind of a warrior he is. That’s what sort of character he is. He wants to put