HERO STOKES TO KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON!
IN-FORM DURHAM AND ENGLAND STAR IGNORES HYPE AFTER ANOTHER STUNNING SHOW
Ben Stokes is lifting English cricket to new heights – by making sure he ignores all the hype about him.
The charismatic allrounder had a full-house Edgbaston crowd either on their feet, or the edge of their seats, over and over again with his match-winning career-best century as England put Australia out of the Champions Trophy.
The adulation was hardly confined to the scene of his heroics either as a string of pundits joined thousands around the world lauding his unbeaten 102 after he and captain Eoin Morgan had thrilled the home support with their counter-attack in a 40-run Duckworth-Lewis victory.
As Australia head home from their damp-squib campaign, and England set their sights on Wednesday’s semifinal in Cardiff, Morgan and his opposite number Steve Smith both acclaimed Stokes.
Morgan recognises potential which is “through the roof ”, and Smith acknowledged a “fantastic” cricketer.
Stokes can occasionally lose his cool in the middle, especially when bowling, but there was a precision about his sustained hitting on Saturday – and afterwards his words were measured too.
Asked how he deals with the adulation, he said: “I just shut it out.
“You can do well one day and then not do well the other – and (then) you’re not as good as everyone says.
“(You need to) just keep your feet on the floor.”
Stokes has passed 50 in half his last 10 one-day international innings – after his second century in three – bagged 11 wickets in the same time frame despite a knee injury which he reports is clearing up, and took the Indian Premier League by storm in his maiden campaign as its most expensive player.
He will not get carried away, though.
“I never feel I get too high and I never feel I get too low about things,” added the 26-year-old.
“That’s just how I go about it.
“I’m always looking to learn and am never happy with how I am going. I think once you get comfortable with what you’re offering it is dangerous territory to be in.”
He was prepared to describe his latest innings as perhaps his best so far in ODIs.
“I think so, in terms of chasing,” he said.
“I don’t think my record is too flash chasing for England. I think to beat a strong Australian side in the way we have just shows where we are at the moment.”
Stokes credits his IPL stint not necessarily for honing new skills but helping him deliver them under pressure.
“The whole thing with the IPL is the exposure you get to big moments in games, playing in front of a huge crowd all the time,” he said.
“You get exposed to those situations more.”
For that reason, when he and Morgan needed to arrest England’s faltering response to 277 for nine in Birmingham, there was no panic.
“At 35 for three, you can just mentally look back to a time in the past and reflect, knowing you’ve been in that situation before and done well,” he said.
“Knowing that gives you confidence against some of the world’s best batsmen and bowlers.”