Stokes’ struggle with anxiety
As he flew out from Scotland to join England’s touring party in South Africa, Ben Stokes confessed that he was still susceptible to nerves as a cricketer, despite the two monumental innings that ensured his recognition as BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Describing the unbeaten 84 at Lord’s that led the country to a first Cricket World Cup triumph, and the 135, also not out, at Headingley that brought an astonishing win in the third Ashes test, the all-rounder reflected on how he had been racked with anxiety both times.
‘‘I am extremely nervous before anything,’’ Stokes explained. ‘‘People who say they aren’t nervous are telling a white lie. Nerves get you going, as you are playing for so much at the highest level. Once you step out there and you’re in the moment, you’re in a place where you’re comfortable and where you have been successful before.
‘‘As a batter, I just try to put myself in a bubble, not letting
anything in from the outside, looking only at how many runs I can score.’’
Amid the adulation that he received in Aberdeen, Stokes suggested he was unlikely to be seduced by the trappings of superstardom.
Waving aside a joke by Jason Roy, his one-day team-mate, that he would be a contestant on I’m a Celebrity soon, he said: ‘‘I hope I’m playing cricket for another 10 years. I’m 28 and I still have loads of time left. Beyond that, I haven’t given it a second thought.’’
Stokes, the first cricketer for 14 years to claim the prize, was a hugely popular winner, with the award ceremony achieving a fiveminute peak audience of 8.6 million. Although the BBC no longer releases the voting breakdown, in line with its policy on other programmes, Stokes’ margin of victory over Lewis Hamilton, the runner-up for a fourth time, is understood to have been far closer than many had predicted.
Ahead of the test series in South Africa, which begins on Boxing Day at Centurion, Stokes is acutely conscious of how starkly his life has turned around in 2019. Acclaimed now as a national hero, he still carries the scars of the tumult that engulfed him for two years before, with a charge of affray outside a Bristol nightclub triggering a protracted court battle and the eventual clearing of his name.
‘‘It’s amazing how quickly things can change,’’ he smiled, cradling the trophy. ‘‘All I’m interested in is putting in consistent performances. If awards come along with that, great. It means you are doing something right.’’