‘It was a special day I will never
forget, we celebrated
long into the night’
(^54) DAILY MIRROR TUESDAY 27.08.2019
DM1ST
‘We got the speakers and
went back on the pitch
so Leachy could give
us a replay of his single’
MIRACLE OF 2019 STOKES RELIVES THE
BEN: I’M
WHAT a special day that was, and
it is one I will never forget.
The Ashes are still alive, the country
is buzzing about cricket and I’m enjoying
playing my part in the summer the way
I hoped I would.
But there is still more to come from
all of us as we try and get that urn back
where it belongs.
The World Cup was so special and
meant so much to all of us who took
part, and this is right up there with it
because the Ashes has always meant so
much.
We all wanted to win both before the
summer started and we still have the
chance to do just that and I think that is
why what happened at Headingley was
so important. Had we lost, the Ashes
were gone.
Now we’ve got a little break to get
home and get ourselves ready to go
again at Old Trafford, and I’ve been
telling all the lads I can’t wait to get
home and cut the grass!
I’m so excited by that and I don’t care
if that makes me sad, or middle aged or
whatever, that is what I’m looking
forward to.
It had been a while since I scored a
Test hundred so to get two in back-to-
back matches is hugely satisfying, but
the second one was a bit more special
because it came in a win rather than a
draw.
People have expressed their surprise
at these innings coming so soon after
the World Cup, but this is what I’m
supposed to do.
This is what I want to be doing, this is
what I train for and put the hard yards
in for so it is great when you’re able to
show off your skills and help your team
win games.
Of course what happened at
Headingley was a terrific day for all of us
involved and we celebrated as you
would expect long into the night.
We started in the changing room and
they had the full replay of the
partnership with me and Jack Leach on
the TV so we all watched it together
with Alastair Cook who came up to see
everyone.
It was great to relive it all and the
atmosphere in the dressing room was
just brilliant even with three guys stood
in the bathtub, and I have no idea why.
Joe Denly, Jos Buttler and Rory Burns
were all in there singing songs and
asking people to get in the bath with
them, but it was just too hot so we had
to go outside.
We went out to the Dickie Bird
balcony and J-Roy said, ‘Are we going to
go out on the pitch or what?’ so we went
to the toilet, grabbed the speakers, and
got out there where Leachy gave
everyone an action replay of his single!
It was a great celebration amongst us
before we went back to the team hotel
to catch up with friends and family.
Me, Buttler, Woakes, Burns and Root
all jumped in an Uber and got £55
worth of McDonald’s drive thru on
the way. There were quarter pound-
ers and filet ‘o’ fish flying everywhere!
Unlike at the World Cup not
everybody had their families there but
there were plenty of friends and people
who had come up and we had a
brilliant night, with Joe Denly
hosting the afterparty in his room
with me, Rooty, Rooty’s mum and
dad and Rory Burns.
Everyone was so excited andjust buzzing off what had been an
incredible day. It was obvious what I had
been doing, but I wanted to know what
everyone else had been doing, how they
had watched it and what the emotions
were like.
All the lads
were telling
me about
their little
superstitions
and how
wheneveranybody moved to get a drink or go to
the toilet everyone else was telling them
to get back as quickly as possible.
Our analyst had his arm leaning on a
table, holding the end of it which was
quite sore because he didn’t move it for
four hours!There were a lot of mes-
sages of congratulations and things
like that which shows how much
people enjoyed following the game.
Probably the best one came in a
direct message from Robbie Fowler
who said well done on the win and I
just replied “Legeeeeeeeeeeend!” to
him. I’m so pleased and proud of the
way Leachy played, his part in it
all was so important and when
he came out I just told him I’d try
to face five and him just one ballin the over. I said if I thought
we could run a two then we
would so to be ready for it and
he knew what he had to do.
We almost had that run out
which would have been such a
shame.
The crowd were incredible too and
I could obviously hear the noise, but
not much more than that.
So when someone told me
afterwards the entire Western Terrace
had their shoes off at one stage singing
my name, and I just said ‘What? That’s
ridiculous, but also pretty funny.’
I’m already looking forward to seeing
what Manchester has in store for us next
week.
Interview: DEAN WILSONTHE MIRROR COLUMNIST WHO SAVED THE ASHES
BEN STOKES
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