English allrounder stoked to play again
At a glance
Match-winning allrounder Ben Stokes says he’s privileged to be back playing for England.
Stokes starred as England hammered New Zealand by six wickets in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday to level their fivematch ODI series 1-1.
Playing his second match back for his country following a night out in Bristol that resulted in him being charged with affray and suspended by the England and Wales Cricket Board, Stokes said he got ‘‘quite emotional’’ after England’s win.
‘It was very satisfying for me. I was quite emotional walking off there at the end,’’ Stokes said.
‘‘Even walking on the field the first time [in game one in Hamilton last Sunday] and walking off tonight made me understand how much a privilege it is to represent your country. It was a different feeling to what it is normally.’’
Stokes is facing a trial later this year after pleading not guilty in his first court appearance the day before he flew out to New Zealand.
‘‘I’ve been working hard at home making sure that when the opportunity came again to represent England I wasn’t going to let anyone down.
‘‘When I got the nod I wanted to expect to be asked to participate fully rather than be eased back into the team. I wouldn’t expect anything less of myself and I don’t think Morgy [ODI captain Eoin Morgan] would expect anything less of me either.’’
Stokes made an unbeaten 63 with the bat, took two wickets and featured in two run-outs as England comprehensively outplayed New Zealand on Wednesday.
‘‘It was a great feeling to be walking off the field there at the end not out, especially after a really commanding performance from the team. We set the tone really well with the ball and the big difference was the fielding.
‘‘There was relief, happiness and obviously it’s been a long time. Hopefully now this is a stepping stone on the road to trying to keep on helping England win games. We’ve got a massive summer ahead and the World Cup coming up after that as well so hopefully this is just the start of it.’’
Stokes’ suspension ruled him out of an Ashes test series England lost 4-0 and he admitted it was frustrating to watch from home, but continued to prepare to play again.
‘‘I went through all the emotions as I would have done playing, but there’s not a lot I can change about that now.
‘‘When that opportunity came back round again, I wasn’t prepared to let anybody down. All the training and hard work that went into that time spent at home paid off.
‘‘The day after the first game I was a little bit sore and I was really stiff coming back for my second spell. There’s nothing like match overs. You try to replicate everything you can in training but it’s that extra adrenaline you get playing and that extra intensity does have an effect on the body when you haven’t had it for a while.
‘‘I think the bowling has felt the hardest to get back to where I want it to be. It’s nice to be contributing wickets two in the first game or two here, but I don’t think I’m quite at the level I want to be yet.’’
Scoreboard from Wednesday night’s match in Mount Maunganui:
NEWZEALAND M Guptill c Roy b Ali............................................ 50 C Munro c Buttler b Woakes.............................1 M Chapman c Willey b Woakes.....................1 L Taylor run out........................................................ 10 T Latham c Curran b Ali....................................22 H Nicholls c Roy b Stokes....................................1 C de Grandhomme run out.......................... 38 M Santner not out................................................. 63 T Southee run out.................................................... 6 L Ferguson c Rashid b Stokes..................... 19 T Boult run out.............................................................2 Extras (5lb, 5wd)....................................................... 10 Total (for 10wkts, 49.4 overs)....................223 Fall: 6, 9, 48, 79, 82, 108, 141, 147, 216, 223. Bowling: D Willey 5-0-16-0 (2w), C Woakes 7.4-1-42-2, A Rashid 10-0-32-0, T Curran 9-0-53-0 (3w), M Ali 10-0-33-2, B Stokes 8-0-42-2.
ENGLAND J Roy c Santner b Boult....................................... 8 J Bairstow c sub b Ferguson........................37 J Root c de Grandhomme b Boult............. 9 E Morgan c & b Munro..................................... 62 B Stokes not out...................................................... 63 J Buttler not out....................................................... 36 Extras (2lb, 8w).......................................................... 10 Total (for 4 wickets, 37.5 overs)...............225 Fall: 15, 47, 86, 174. Bowling: T Southee 7-0-55-0 (2w), T Boult 8-1-46-2, M Santner 7.5-0-40-0, L Ferguson 8-0-48-1, C de Grandhomme 2-0-11-0 (1w), C Munro 5-0-23-1 (1w). Result: England win by 6 wickets. Photo: GETTY IMAGES