Ben Stokes
England’s vice-captain on what the role means to him
BEN STOKES is loving life as England vice-captain, but despite the added responsibility the all-rounder insists he is not about to change his combative approach on the field.
Stokes, 26, was chosen as Joe Root’s deputy when the Yorkshireman took over the Test captaincy from Alastair Cook earlier this year.
The pair have had a mixed start, with the win in their first match leading the side together against South Africa at Lord’s followed by that 340-run defeat in the second Investec Test in Nottingham.
However, Stokes, the heartbeat of this England team, has relished the extra trust placed in him, with the Durham man even taking over the captaincy for a brief period when Root left the field at Trent Bridge. Asked how life was different in his new role, Stokes said: “I don’t know really – I think I just get asked more of my opinion.
“Joe went off twice, so I was captain for two overs – and Cookie said, ‘what does it feel like?’ I was like. ‘ mate, I was captain for an over, I’m not really doing anything, just saying well done, well bowled’.
“It’s been good. Obviously, it’s all about Rooty being captain – he’s sort of had the taste of both sides of it.
“But I think he handled the success of Lord’s very well, and I think he handled the criticism which obviously he was going to get at the end of Trent Bridge very, very well. There was a lot who said – ‘will it affect his batting?’
“Obviously it hasn’t. These first two games have shown that when he’s batting, he’s Joe Root the batter, and that captaincy is at the back of his mind.”
One of the many areas where England fell short at Trent Bridge was their use of DRS. Perhaps the worst review of the whole Test came on the first day, when Stokes convinced Root he had trapped Hashim Amla lbw.
“When it came on the replay, I said, ‘sorry, but that had just looked so out’,” said Stokes.
“But then he’d hit it and it was outside the line – so I don’t know if he’ll be asking for my opinion any more.”
The good news for England, though, is that Stokes feels back to his best bowling and 100 per cent recovered from the knee injury he managed throughout the first half of the summer.
“The last six or seven weeks have been quite frustrating for me as a bowler,” he said. “Before I had my knee problems, the bowling at the IPL, rhythm, everything felt really good. To come back to England, feeling very confident, and then the knee trouble happened. I had been trying to accommodate for my sore knee and I think a few things changed in my action, making sure I didn’t hurt that too much.
“Getting everything back to where it was, I spent a couple of mornings at Trent Bridge doing my drill work and did two sessions this week doing drill work. But that last spell I bowled at Trent Bridge [when he dismissed Faf Du Plessis] was a big confidence booster for me.”
As England’s star all-rounder and the most expensive overseas player in Indian Premier League history following his £1.7million deal with Rising Pune Supergiant this year, Stokes is a marked man among the opposition ranks.
Kagiso Rabada, banned after telling Stokes to “f*** off” at Lord’s and triggering a fourth demerit point, was just the latest opposing player to try and wind him up after previous spats with India’s Virat Kohli last winter and Marlon Samuels during England’s 2015 tour of the West Indies. However, despite his new leadership role, Stokes says he is in no mood to step back from confrontation on the field.
“I don’t really pay any attention to it all when I am batting,” he says. “I don’t go looking for it – sometimes there is just a moment in the game that flicks a switch with me. It is more with my bowling though, it gets me going and gets the adrenaline going and you get into individual battles.
“I think spectators want to see those individual battles; it is part of the game.”
As for the bigger picture, Stokes is also keen on the idea of T20 cricket entering the Olympics, a possibility for the 2024 Games.
“You look at the golf in the Olympics, that obviously caught the imagination of everyone, it was just as exciting as watching The Open or the Masters,” said Stokes. “I don’t know if it is going to happen, but if it does it would be amazing to represent your country at the Olympics, we will just have to wait and see.”