So, Ben Stokes has called time on a thrilling international career at the age of 35. It had been coming, although maybe not in the manner and timing. But then Mr Stokes has never been conventional, one of the reasons why British blokes love him. And yet I could never really warm to him.
It should not have been that way. Like me, he’s a ginger, and perhaps I could empathise with a degree of volatility, a trait we redheads often tend to share. I remember in his early days with Durham, I spotted in the newspaper scorecards the runs and wickets against the name of B A Stokes and quickly added this cheap all-rounder to my Fantasy Cricket team. Points galore!
As a teenager, he picked up a couple of wickets and eleven runs on his one-day debut against Surrey in 2009 but his first-class initiation came the following Spring in the pre-season Abu Dhabi warm-up against the MCC, notching a half-century. International white-ball recognition came towards the end of the 2011 season. In a gentle 50-over affair against Ireland, he scored three and didn’t bowl, then in a T20 demolition of the West Indies, his only contribution was a role in a run-out. It was another two years before he was burdened with the epithet of “the new Ian Botham” and thrust into Alastair Cook’s side in Adelaide. He made one on his first innings in the heavy defeat but could at least claim Michael Clarke as his first wicket.
So many all-rounders in the footsteps of Sir Ian have floundered, especially in the Test arena. One-dayers were made for decent all-rounders, making the careers of players such as Mark Alleyne, Adam Hollioake, Tim Bresnan and many more. Botham is revered, but he flourished before Twenty20 and the proliferation of ODIs. His powers began to wane by the late ‘80s, selected by England more in hope than expectation. He could be rather controversial, not afraid to cock two fingers at the establishment and often getting away with misdemeanours by the memory of one amazing Ashes series. Hmm. Remind you of anyone else?!
I have watched Stokes a couple of times at Cardiff. The first was an ODI against Australia in September 2013. He looked really fiery in the sunshine, regularly reaching 90mph with the ball as did his opponent Mitchell Johnson. He kept Jos Buttler company in the final run chase before playing all round a McKay delivery and losing his leg stump. Two years later, it wasT20 time playing his part in a nail-biting victory with some death bowling and an outstanding boundary catch to dismiss Glenn Maxwell.
Unlike, say, Joe Root, Jimmy Anderson, Ian Bell or Alastair Cook, I struggled to elevate Ben Stokes to the pantheon of genuine England greats. And yet on the biggest occasions he came to the fore, imposing himself on opponents and the match by sheer force of personality. There seemed to be a switch he’d flick and he’d flay top-class bowlers to all corners or crunch an unplayable yorker into the stumps. For Botham’s summer of ’81, Stokes will always be associated with 2019, starring in both the decisive Ashes Test and that extraordinary World Cup Final against his home nation, New Zealand but that might never have come to pass given events in Bristol two years earlier.
Arrested after a ‘nightclub incident’ (sound familiar) in Bristol, things looked grim. CCTV showed a clearly inebriated Stokes going absolutely berserk on the street, hurling punches with a abandon at two men while Alex Hales tried to hold him back. He was found not guilty of affray on grounds of self-defence. In my August 2018 blog, written in outrage after the court case, I pondered what an unprovoked assault would look like! He was very lucky not to serve time in prison. If there is any film of the latest curfew-breaking episode, it has been neatly suppressed. It may well be that he and Gus Atkinson were innocent parties but he really should know better.
When Joe Root quit the captaincy, and the Brendpn McCullum era was launched, Ben Stokes was the obvious candidate for representing ‘Bazball’ on the pitch. Yes, his character is prickly and explosive, but that fitted the way England were to perform. For a while, it worked. Employ T20-style aggression with the bat, select untested 90mph speed merchants with the ball, wrap up the win inside three days and spend the next two days on the bar. Result! It was great when it worked – until it didn’t. You always need a Plan B.
Never was this more evident than in his very last Test against the Kiwis. Sidelined for the Oval defeat for being a naughty boy, Ben Stokes was brought back as captain for the Trent Bridge decider. Without Williamson (retired) or Henry, this New Zealand side should have been easy, and England had not lost a home Test series in yonks, not even recent contests against India or the Aussies.
The Latham-and-Conway show had threatened a disaster but somehow England fought back with Stokes taking four wickets and Duckett smashing an old-fashioned Bazball century. An 84-run deficit wasn’t too bad, particularly when, second time around, the top three went cheaply. However, Rachin Ravindra eased into his elegant stride for 94 and Daryl Mitchell - the same age as Stokes - stood up strong for six hours against a fusillade of short-pitched bowling by Archer, Tongue and co to reach three figures.
Then came The Announcement. This would be Ben Stokes’ swansong. The skipper’s next ball took a wicket. The script was written. He’s polish off the NZ innings and score a match-winning 150 by the following lunchtime. He demanded a glorious Hollywood musical finale. The target was a more challenging 373 but, with more than a day remaining, the weather dry, not impossible in these adventurous times. But New Zealand had not read the script. Stokes opened with Duckett and struck a 50-run ‘powerplay’ before Ben swiped Foulkes to Mitchell at mid-on. Bethell went for a duck. Time for Root and Brook to settle things down and show why they are world-class batsmen. No. They were clearly under orders to continue the mayhem, slogging, ramping, reverse sweeping. At stumps, after fifteen bizarre overs, England were 103-4, the game as good as gone. By the next afternoon, it was over. From one-up, England had lost 2-1, chucking the series away on the altar of Stokes’ ego.
Nobody’s
England career should end like that. But this was Ben Stokes. Unconventional to
the bitter end. His cricket statistics are impressive. They are there for
future generations to see and admire. Yet they don’t convey fully the mark he
made on English cricket in the Noughties and 2020s, as swashbuckling batter,
snarling pace bowler, supreme fielder or the epitome of the Bazball strategy. In
recent years, he suffered many injuries and endured the mental strain, too, of
sacrificing the lucrative treadmill of franchise cricket for international white-ball
tournaments and England Test series. Ashes defeats should never define a
captain, but they do. Frequently, Ben Stokes was a winner, which should not be
forgotten. Like I say, he was definitely not a personal favourite but English cricket
will be a lot quieter without him.
