Sir Ian Botham: 'Ben Stokes is better than I was'

Sir Ian Botham has compared Ben Stokes to "a dominant male lion", admitting that the 24-year-old all-rounder is 'probably a better player' than he was at the same age.

Stokes took Botham's national record for the fastest ever Test double-century during the first innings of the drawn second match between South Africa and England earlier this month, achieving the feat off 163 balls to Beefy's 220.

"What I did was yesterday's news, what he did is today's news. That's the way it is," Botham told Sky Sports News. "I think as a player full stop he is probably better than I was at 24, I don't know. He's certainly up there.

"He will feel untouchable at the moment. His confidence will be oozing and that will be good for the team as it will ooze onto the team and they will all pick up on that.

"It's a little bit like being in the jungle - the dominant male lion: the rest feed off it. That's how he'll be. He'll be the dominant male in that side for a few years to come."

The third Test between the two nations gets underway in Johannesburg on Thursday.