COE: TOKYO KO SAVED CONFLICT
...and Stokes targets another decade at top
A DECADE ago, Ben Stokes was nervously anticipating his debut as a first-class cricketer.
His career was about to kick-start with a legside clip off Steve Kirby and the wicket of Gloucestershire stalwart Alex Gidman.
The rest is already glorious history. Ten years on, Stokes, 28, is in the same boat as the rest of us, only concerned that the world somehow pulls through this unprecedented crisis.
But like the rest of us, he is looking forward to emerging from this tunnel and to starting his second decade as one of the nation’s sporting icons.
“Another decade? That is the plan,” he said. “The body might have other ideas but let’s hope so.
“I remember my debut for Durham against an MCC side in Abu Dhabi on
March 29. I batted on day two. Blimey, I was 18.
“A lot has happened since, a lot of highs and lows, and hopefully there will be more highs over the next 10 years.
“And with this England side, genuinely think there will be.
“I’ve been in this team for quite a long time now and there has been a lot of changes in personnel.
“But right now I think we have a great blend. It is a settled squad with some young and exciting players coming through – players who have shown, in their short careers, that they are capable of delivering at international level.”
Stokes is clearly referring to (inset right, from top) Tom Banton, Ollie Pope and Sam Curran among others.
He added: “As well as the experienced players, we have a group of players around 20, 21, 22 years old who have demonstrated how they can perform. That is great because they are only going to get better.
“In four or five years, we could be in a seriously good place – hopefully the best team in the world.”
But as he reflected on his first 10 years as a professional, Stokes knows those youngsters will have to go on a steep learning curve.
His Test debut was in Australia in the Ashes series of 2013-14, which saw England whitewashed 5-0.
“My first Test was pretty nervewracking,” recalled Stokes. “It was at the Adelaide Oval, which has got so much history about it.
“My first ‘wicket’ was Brad Haddin
I■ (right) but it was a noball but then I got Michael Clarke. The Australian captain for your first Test wicket is not bad.
“It was a pretty decent series for me personally. I got my first Test hundred and had some success which gave me the confidence I could do it at the highest level.
“It was disappointing tour to be part of but you have got to learn from those sort of things. I took the
aLORD COE insists athletes risked breaking the law if the Olympic Games had not been postponed.
The Olympics scheduled to take place in Tokyo this summer have been postponed for 12 months due to the coronavirus crisis.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) – along with organisers of Tokyo 2020 – took the decision following increasing pressure from athletes and various sporting bodies around the world.
Athletes have been unable to train properly because of positives out of it. It opened my eyes up to what international cricket is all about.
“It toughened me up. You could really tell the difference between first-class and international cricket.”
But not long after Stokes suffered a dip in form and found himself out of the England set-up.
“The next season was one of the lows,” he added. “I had a stinker but I went away and asked what I needed to do to get back into the team. “My goal had been to be a permanent player in the England team and that got knocked, so I just worked as hard as I could. Rather than the pandemic, which has forced all facilities to be closed down.
World Athletics president Coe insists the decision has saved athletes from weeks of mental turmoil.
He also claims it has taken away the risk of some athletes deciding to ignore government rules as part of their determination to continue preparing as normal.
Coe said: “We didn’t want to have the athletes in a position where they were sulk, I wanted to make myself better. That has always been my philosophy.” Stokes has certainly done so, culminating in his epic 2019 which ended with him being voted Sports Personality of the Year. “I still can’t put one above the other – the World Cup win or the 135 not out at Headingley,” he said. “But what was more important was that at the end of the World Cup we had a trophy.
“Personal performances are great but they have to contribute to a win.”
And here is to 10 more years of winning.
TO find out more about Ben Stokes, head to his athlete profile page on Redbull.com countering government advice, maybe even breaking the law.
“We just wanted to take them out of that mental turmoil as quickly as we possibly could.
“We’re no different from everyone else out there but I think we just concluded that sport, on this occasion, had to take a back seat.”
Meanwhile, Olympic organisers, including the Japanese government, have targeted July 2021 to stage the rearranged Games.
They would follow on from the rescheduled Euro 2020 finals. The Games were scheduled to open on July 24 this year, with the Paralympics due to have started on August 25.
But both events had to be postponed due to the pandemic that has turned the sporting world upside down – a decision unprecedented in peacetime.
Given the ongoing crisis and need for preparation time, the most likely plan would be for the Games to now begin on July 23, according to sources within the IOC.