Stokes emerges from dark to play in Ashes
BEN Stokes has revealed he was in a “dark place” over the English summer but is “buzzing” to be back with the England squad for the Ashes.
The 30-year-old was not named in the original squad for the tour to Australia, having taken an indefinite break from cricket in July to focus on his mental health and to recover from a finger injury.
Stokes had a second operation on his left index finger this month and has now been given the all clear by the ECB’s medical team to join
the squad. He will fly out next week along with those who are not playing in the T20 World Cup.
Joe Root, the England Test captain, tweeted his delight at the return of “one of the greats ... and an even better bloke”, while Stokes said Root was thrilled to hear from his star allrounder that he would be with them for the Ashes.
“Rooty’s reaction when I told him was simply: ‘Oh bloody hell, that’s good,’ ” he said. “He said it was great to hear me sounding so well and that is the truth of it.
“I feel much better about everything, from my finger to my mental wellbeing. I know I can focus on playing my best cricket.”
Stokes missed the recent Test series against India and is absent from the T20 World Cup. He broke his finger playing for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League in April and the initial surgery left him with constant pain.
However, after successful surgery to remove scar tissue, he was finally able to grip a bat with comfort and started hitting balls two weeks ago.
“I probably didn’t realise just how much of an issue the finger was causing me until I got it sorted the second time around,” Stokes wrote in his column for The Daily Mirror.
“But I had also been struggling with bubble life and events off the field. I don’t want anyone to feel the way I did because I wasn’t in a good place and I’m not afraid to admit it.
“I was in a real dark place and having some difficult thoughts. I was always one of those people who wouldn’t talk about how they are feeling and just keep it internal and crack on.”