Daily Mail - 27.08.2019

Daily Mail, Tuesday, August 27, 2019 Page 

joined the

academy team

of his county

side, Durham.

TURNED PRO

AT JUST 17

StoKES was called into

Durham’s first team in

2009 on the morning of a

one-day match against

Surrey. He was brought on to

bowl with England batsman,

Mark Ramprakash, unbeaten

on 36.

the home side had lost just

two wickets, and required less

than 100 runs for victory, only for

the untried debutant to strike

with his third delivery.

‘He tried to hit it for six over mid-

wicket, but i managed to hit his

stumps,’ Stokes told reporters.

‘i remember thinking “i got Mark

Ramprakash out... ” it took a bit

to sink in.’ Stokes ended his five-

over spell with two wickets for 22

runs, helping Durham to complete

an unlikely victory.

TOO MANY LATE NIGHTS?

liKE many a young sports star,

Stokes began to show an unfortu-

nate knack of generating headlines

off the field as well as on it.

Warning signs first emerged during

2011, when he was fined and cen-

sured by Durham after he received a

police caution for obstructing an

officer making an arrest during a

night out in newcastle.

‘i woke in the morning and was

given my breakfast through the meal

flap in the door,’ was how he recalled

his night in the cells.

‘it was like a scene from the Shaw-

shank Redemption.’

By February 2013, Stokes was a

regular in the England one-day side.

But his prospects of making the test

team suffered a serious knock after

he was sent home from an England

lions tour of australia with team-

mate Matt Coles, for repeatedly

flouting rules about drinking.

Coach andy Flower told him:

‘You don’t want to play for

England. You just want to p**s it

up the wall with your mates.’ Stokes

purportedly replied: ‘i’ll prove

you wrong.’

SPARKLING ASHES DEBUT

tRUE to his word, Stokes knuckled

down, enjoyed a sparkling season for

Durham and returned to australia

nine months after he was sent home,

as part of England’s ashes team.

although his team suffered a

humiliating 5-0 defeat, he earned

respect with a maiden test century,

scoring 120 at Perth.

Sadly, an injury and run of poor

form saw him spend the ensuing 18

months in and out of the national

side. But he returned to his best in

2015 scoring a century against new

Zealand at lord’s.

the achievement met with mixed

feelings for his parents, who by then

had returned to the country of his

birth. ‘it’s a strange one,’ dad gerard

declared. ‘i’ve always said i’ll support

Ben in every team he plays, but when

he’s playing new Zealand he

understands that we’ll support new

Zealand.’ gerard and Deborah’s

patriotism was, of course, to be

far more sorely tested earlier this

summer, when their son’s heroics

propelled England to the now

famous victory against new Zea-

land in the World Cup final.

TEMPER TANTRUMS

an extraordinary 258 against

South africa, the fastest double

century ever scored by an

England batsman, had by 2016

confirmed the status of

Stokes as England’s most

dangerous batsman.

But his temper seemed as

explosive as his shot-making.

in 2014, he’d missed the World

20/20 cup due to a hand injury,

after punching a dressing room

locker after being dismissed

during a warm-up game.

that led to several sessions

with England’s team psychologist

Mark Bawden, who devised a

plan where the first thing he had

to do after being dismissed was

to pack his kit bag to give him

time to cool off.

He then became involved in a

silly but long-running feud with

West indies batsman Marlon

Samuels, who saluted him in a

mocking fashion after he was

dismissed cheaply.

MORE BOOZE ISSUES

StoKES in 2016 told an

interviewer that his favourite tip-

ple was Jagerbombs (a mixture

of Red Bull and the liqueur

Jagermeister). When asked how

many he could sink on a night

out said: ‘i’ve lost count

after 20.’

those comments came back to

haunt him the following summer,

when he was caught out at 3am

in Manchester bar, Crazy Pedro’s,

hours before the second day of

the test match against South

africa. asked about his noctur-

nal habits in an interview in

Victory:

Stokes roars

in triumph

after Ashes

heroics.

Right, his

children

Layton and

Libby

TOOMANY LAAATENIGHTS?

upthewallwithyourmates.’Stokes

STOKES’ CHILDREN ARE

SUPERHEROES TOO...

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N OF A HERO

Devoted: Social media snap with wife Clare Tribute: Lion tattoos representing his family

Argy-bargy:

Stokes clashes

with Australian

bowler Mitchell

Johnson in 2013