Emotional Stokes puts his court case in background
BEN STOKES admits all the emotions of five long months away from the England team caught up with him as he walked off unbeaten after his match-winning halfcentury against New Zealand.
Stokes, absent since last September after being arrested outside a Bristol nightclub and subsequently charged with affray, missed England’s entire winter – including their 4-0 Ashes defeat – until he returned against the Kiwis in the opening one-day international series match in Hamilton.
He was unable to help Eoin Morgan’s team to victory then but did so at Mount Maunganui with two run-outs and two wickets as well as a top score of 63 not out to level the series at 1-1.
“I was quite emotional walking off there at the end,” said the 26-year-old, having hit seven fours and a six from 74 balls.
“There was relief, happiness – and obviously it’s been a long time. It was very satisfying for me.”
England declared Stokes available once more only after he pleaded not guilty at Bristol Magistrates Court earlier this month.
Within two days, he had joined them on tour in his native New Zealand but sat out the Twenty20 tri-series and returned only for the first ODI.
“Even walking on the field the first time and (then) walking off tonight made me understand how much of a privilege it is to represent your country,” he added.
“It was a different feeling to what it is normally – but it was a great feeling to be walking off there at the end not out, especially after a really commanding performance from the team.”
Stokes spent much of his international exile at home, save for a short spell of white-ball cricket with Canterbury Kings in Christchurch.
He said: “It was obviously frustrating to watch the Ashes. I went through all the emotions as I would have done playing, but there’s not a lot I can change about that now.
“I’ve been following all the cricket that all the lads have been playing but what I have to do now is focus on going forward.
Asked whether he always believed he would play for England at some stage this winter, Stokes said: “That was the focus and when that opportunity came back round again I wasn’t prepared to let anybody down. All the training and hard work that went into that time spent at home really paid off.
“When I got the nod I wanted to expect to be asked to participate fully rather than be eased back into the team.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less of myself and I don’t think (captain Eoin) Morgan would expect anything less of me either.”
It is only a start but Stokes has big plans for the summer ahead and beyond. “I hope now this is a stepping stone on the road to trying to keep on helping England win games,” he said.
“We’ve got a massive summer ahead and the World Cup coming up after that as well, so I hope this is just the start of it.
“I will constantly be saying it’s what’s coming up now going forward. As a cricketer, especially as an England cricketer, we’ve got so much cricket to play and there’s lots to look forward to and concentrate on.
“I want to contribute every time I play for England and, as I said, we’ve got a massive summer coming up and loads of cricket to play in the future. I just want to contribute towards that.”
He did that to great effect on this occasion, sharing a stand of 88 with Morgan (62) as England chased an inadequate 223 all out with six wickets and more than 12 overs to spare.
Stokes admitted, however: “I think the bowling has felt the hardest to get back to where I want it to be.
“I’m working really hard to get it back to where I want it to be. It’s nice to be contributing wickets but I don’t think I’m quite at the level I want to be at yet.
“There’s nothing like match overs. You try to replicate everything in training but it’s that extra adrenalin you get playing and that extra intensity that does have an effect on the body when you haven’t had it for a while.”
Tim Southee, leading New Zealand in the absence of injured captain Kane Williamson, said: “He’s obviously a class player. We know how dangerous he can be – both with bat and ball.”
It made me understand what a privilege it is represent England. Ben Stokes after his match-winning knock in the second ODI.
THERE has been plenty of talk about whether Ben Stokes should be back playing for England again given that the Bristol business is still hanging over him.
There has been plenty of talk about whether he should have gone straight back into the side given that he had not played an international match for five months and might have been rusty.
There has been plenty of talk about Ben Stokes full stop since that fateful day in late September when he was arrested and subsequently charged with affray.
But when the talking stops and the action starts, there are few more eloquent cricketers in the world.
After an unspectacular return to England colours in the first one-day international against New Zealand on Sunday, when the tourists were beaten by three wickets in Hamilton and he contributed 12 with the bat and took two wickets, Stokes played a match-winning hand in the second game yesterday in Mount Maunganui.
He captured two more wickets to go with two run-outs as New Zealand were dismissed for 223, and then he top-scored with 63 not out as England won by six wickets with a whopping 73 balls to spare.
Although it was one of those games in which most players contributed, with England impressive in all departments, Stokes stood out like a blackboard in a snowstorm.
As the old country shivered in the grip of the ‘Beast from the East’, a meteorological event that sounds like some particularly hairy darts player from Essex, Stokes warmed the cockles with a crackerjack display, the first down-payment to those teammates who so sorely missed him during the Ashes.
Like all the great players, Stokes does not need endless training sessions and games to reach top standard.
As former England batsman Rob Key put it in the television studio, marvelling at the fluency with which Stokes helped England level the five-match series, “he’s the type of player who can just pick up a bat out the wrapper and play pretty well”.
Stokes appears to have so much time at the crease that he could probably multi-task as the ball comes out of the bowler’s hand, pausing briefly to negotiate a couple of clues in The Yorkshire
Post crossword, for example, before tucking the paper neatly back inside his shirt and nonchalantly smiting the ball over the boundary for six.
His technique is so simple that it basically comes down to this – keep perfectly still until the very last minute, see the ball, hit the ball.
Although many are uneasy about the England and Wales Cricket Board’s handling of his situation, given that Stokes was suspended from playing for England before he had been charged by police and then cleared to play once a charge had been laid, no-one would deny that he is the heartbeat of the side.
It is for that reason that people have bent over backwards to reach the current state of affairs, so much so that several ECB officials could probably do a passable impression of Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Stokes has not lacked support from the ECB, who were placed in an invidious position, whatever one’s opinion. His performance yesterday was a classic example of why they were so keen to welcome back what Key also termed “a once-in-a-generation cricketer”.
With or without Stokes, England are potential World Cup winners, because they are so strong and solid in the 50-over game.
This victory could be filed under the category marked “ruthless”, with England’s foot welded to the jugular.
Yorkshire’s David Willey set the tone with the new ball, along with Chris Woakes, while the fielding was light years from the fumbling efforts visible in Hamilton.
Athletic run-outs, spectacular catches, brilliant ground-work – all were in evidence this time, and it was arguably the decisive factor.
The spinners bowled well in the form of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, while there were welcome runs for captain Eoin Morgan.
After Jonny Bairstow’s quickfire 37, Morgan struck 62 from 63 balls – his first halfcentury in 11 ODI innings going back to last June – before Jos Buttler helped Stokes apply the finishing touches.
Now the roadshow rolls on to Wellington, where the third ODI starts at 1.00am on Saturday.
After that, it moves on to Dunedin and Christchurch, with a Stokes-rejuvenated England looking a good bet to follow their 4-1 ODI victory in Australia with another series win.
He does not need endless training sessions to reach top standard. Chris Waters on the impact of Ben Stokes.