Ben Stokes has learned plenty from a bumpy year with England and believes the team can still confound low expectations at the World Cup
Alan Gardner04-Nov-2014″I’m not a psycho.” The very fact Ben Stokes has to utter these words, from behind a wide grin, tells you something about his character and the combustible reputation he has developed in the last 12 months. Stokes’ spunky streak endeared him to England fans in his debut Test series, the misery-freighted Ashes whitewash; shortly after, in the Caribbean ahead of the World T20, it caused him to break a wrist punching a locker.That, he admits, was taking being combative too far, though it was frustration at failure that got the better of him. As England began afresh in the summer under Peter Moores, Stokes had to fight again, this time for his place in the side.He remains an uncertain starter for England in ODI cricket but, with the squad having assembled in Loughborough for a three-day training camp ahead of their seven-match tour of Sri Lanka and the World Cup rapidly approaching, his old-fashioned moxie may be just what a team lacking in self-confidence needs.Being nicknamed “Psycho” is not necessarily an impediment in the sporting arena – as former Nottingham Forest and England left-back Stuart Pearce would acknowledge – but Stokes is nevertheless keen to stress his increased maturity. Aged 23, he is already a father and his partner, Clare, is expecting their second child. The due date is a week after England begin their World Cup campaign and Stokes seems as relaxed about that as he now is around metal storage units after getting out cheaply.Stokes’ passion and ability have already endeared him to England fans, who well know how a charismatic allrounder can ignite the team’s fire, but his utility is likely to depend on “channelling emotions in the right way on the pitch”, as he puts it.”I think now, as I have played a lot more cricket, you can’t let emotion get on top of you because it can actually take away how you deliver on the pitch,” he said. “As a kid, I lost my temper quite easily and tended to look away from the actual game itself. Now I know how to manage that and make sure I’m getting the best out myself.”Stokes not planning baby birth dash
While many cricketers in the modern day interrupt touring to return home for the birth of a child, Ben Stokes is ready to take the old-fangled route and put work first.
Stokes’ second child is expected on February 21 – a day after England’s World Cup match against New Zealand and two days before they play Scotland – but he is not currently contemplating a round-the-world dash.
“We have spoken about it but we don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t want to miss any cricket and she’s totally on board with that,” he said. “If I can get back and it doesn’t affect any cricket, then, yes.
“It sounds pretty heartless to say I’m laidback about the birth of my child but I’m lucky that Clare completely understands my job and the situation. She actually said ‘If we tell your daughter the reason you weren’t at the birth is you were playing for your country, I reckon she will think that’s quite cool’.”
Anger management is a term that has cropped up recently, in the wake of cases involving James Anderson and Andrew Gale, but Stokes said the locker incident had not led to any special sessions with the England psychologist, Mark Bawden. “It wasn’t like I had lost my mind,” he said, before conceding: “Obviously it got brought up. I just said I can’t be doing that. I’m not a psycho.”Perhaps a more fitting description is “competitor”, and Stokes is still likely to flash a malevolent glare at opponents in the heat of battle, but it seems fatherhood has helped provide a useful equilibrium.”The one thing from having a child is they are exactly the same no matter what sort of day you’ve had, whether it’s been good or bad. They bring you completely down to earth and take you away from all the emotions you can have from playing a sport. You tend to forget about everything that has happened when you walk through the door, so I guess it has changed me.”As the joke about how many psychiatrists it takes to change a lightbulb goes, the key is wanting to change. Stokes is now a senior player with Durham and his Man-of-the-Match performance in the Royal London Cup final, when he took responsibility for his team’s run chase, showed the sort of temperament international cricket demands. England, too, want to change perceptions about their approach to the 50-over game and Stokes believes it is in their hands to do so.”Over the last couple of years one-day cricket hasn’t been our strongest format but we want to be one of the best teams in the world at it,” he said.When Stokes made his international debut, as part of Alastair Cook’s ODI side in 2011, England were on an upward curve that would see them briefly ranked No. 1 in the world. Since then, they have only won two bilateral series (excluding one-off matches) out of nine and are considered firmly in outer orbit as far as World Cup chances go.Whether they succeed or fail in Sri Lanka, where conditions will differ markedly from Australia and New Zealand, is unlikely to dramatically alter perceptions but, for England as well as Stokes, the trip will be about fostering belief and settling on plans. Stokes played three of the five ODIs against India at the end of the summer and is beginning to adapt to his role as fourth seamer, batting at No. 7.”I’ve been up and down the order quite a few times now so for me at the moment it is just about getting a solid position,” he said. “I know my role more with the ball but I had a chat with Mooresy towards the end of the one-day series about batting seven and that did do me some good. You can lose early wickets and have to build an innings, which I’m more used to, but then you can also be in the situation I was in at Headingley where you go in at the end and try and get as many runs as possible. So it’s just about being versatile.”Stokes thinks he is a better player than he was in Australia last winter and he will hope to show it at the World Cup, which will also provide an opportunity to play in the country of his birth. Stokes’ parents are from Christchurch, where England take on New Zealand – the day before another member of the family is expected to arrive – and it is perhaps because he has so much to look forward to that Stokes has little time for those writing off Cook’s team.”Hopefully the people who have said that will be eating their words. We’re 100% confident of what we have got coming ahead and we’re definitely giving ourselves the best chance to be hopefully lifting the trophy.”
