Absent family the only thing to spoil Ben’s big moment
STAND-IN captain Ben Stokes admits leading England in today’s first Test against the West Indies will be a bittersweet experience, with no fans allowed in the Ageas Bowl.
The coronavirus pandemic means England fans will have to make do with watching on television but Stokes revealed that for his proud parents, who live in New Zealand, that will not be an option.
While his wife Clare has come up with a sociable solution to missing out on the live experience, mother Deb and father Ged are less than pleased about being unable to tune in from the other side of the world.
‘Of course this is going to be a proud moment for my family as well as for myself and I would love my wife and kids to be here to see what I’m about to do but what can you do? There are more important things going on in the world,’ he said.
‘My wife has told me she is going to be hosting a cricket lunch at home but my mam is spitting bullets because they’re not showing the game back in New Zealand. If you’re out there and you see my mam, I would stay out of her way.’
With regular skipper Joe Root sitting out the Test for the birth of his second child, Stokes will lead his country for the first time in Tests, but there is one duty he is most definitely not relishing – being the bearer of bad news for those who miss out on the final XI.
In all likelihood only three of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes can play and, although all are likely to see action over a sevenweek period that is due to contain six Tests against the Windies and Pakistan, making the initial cut is an awkward job.
‘I’ve been dreading it for the last two or three days, telling the unfortunate guys,’ said Stokes.
‘I can’t wait to give Joe the armband back for that reason. It’s great to tell guys they’re playing but with that comes the fact that you have to deliver the bad news.’