Tag: Ben Stokes

England Test captain Ben Stokes has revealed the reason behind giving up Alcohol after a string of injuries that cast doubts over his career as an all-rounder.

Stokes was ruled out of all three formats of cricket after suffering a tear during the third Test against New Zealand last December. The all-rounder underwent surgery on his left hamstring in aid of recovery.

Ben Stokes has yet to play a competitive game ahead of England’s packed summer. The three Lions’ summer begins with a one-off historic Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge on 22 May, marking the latter’s first on English soil in 23 years.

Now, Stokes has revealed the reason behind quitting Alcohol on a podcast.

”After my first major injury, I remember the shock of it, after the initial adrenaline had stopped, thinking: ‘How has this happened? We did have a bit of a drink four or five nights ago, could that have played a part? It wouldn’t have helped,” he said.

“Then I was like: ‘OK, I need to start changing what I do.’ I don’t think I’ll ever be completely sober, but I’ve not had a drink since 2 January,” he added.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The 33-year-old shed light on his training methods, stressing the hard work away from the field to yield the best out of himself.

”I said to myself: ‘Not until I finish my injury rehab and get back on the field.”

“It’s just getting harder to do everything. Hence why now I feel like I have to work so much harder away from the field, in the gym, and all that kind of stuff to just give me the best chance of being out there to perform. But I’ll keep going as long as I possibly can.”

England Test skipper further emphasized on contrasting cricketing cultures of the ’90s and 2000s, highlighting the physical fatigue on the body.

”In the 90s and 00s there were unbelievable stories [about drinking]. It’s definitely settled down a lot over the years. The game is more demanding on the body than it was.

”There’s so much more cricket, there’s so much more in the schedule that it’s just impossible for the body to be able to withstand all of that anyway without the downsides of what a couple of beers at the end of the day can do to you for the next day,” he concluded.

READ: PSL 10 to observe breast cancer awareness day

England Test team captain Ben Stokes has slammed critics of the national team’s training methods, calling them ‘utter rubbish’.

The England team’s training methods were scrutinized earlier this year, particularly during their white-ball tour of India.

Rob Key, the managing director of the England Cricket Board (ECB), addressed the criticism, stating that the notion of a relaxed, carefree environment was England’s own fault.

Now, the three Lions captain Ben Stokes has voiced his support for his team’s exceptional work ethic, mentioning that he is frustrated by their reputation.

“When you hear comments saying that we don’t train hard enough, we’re more bothered about golf, we don’t work hard enough, it’s just complete and utter [rubbish],” he said during an interview with Nasser Hussain on Sky Sports.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The dynamic all-rounder stressed the demands of an international sportsman while admitting that without a work ethic, a player could not sustain his place.

“You’re not going to be able to be an international sportsman for a long period of time if you don’t have a work ethic. Everyone who walks into the Test team, into the white-ball team, their work ethic is incredible,” Stokes explained.

Ben Stokes further highlighted the specific methods of the England team, stating that their activities relieve the squad’s burden.

“There is a reason for everything that we do, because we feel it helps players, it helps the team, but it also is a way of taking the pressure of what we do off us, without adding more to it.

“There’s enough pressure on the shoulders of everyone who walks out there with the three lions on their chest, and what we try and do is take any extra, added pressure off the shoulders of people,” he concluded.

READ: No Virat Kohli as Babar Azam picks his T20I World XI

Former England cricketer Stuart Broad has warned the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) against appointing all-rounder Ben Stokes as captain for the One Day International (ODI) format.

The debate began after Jos Butler’s resignation as England’s White ball captain following their dismal campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

The three lions remained winless in the tournament, registering defeats against England, South Africa and Afghanistan.

Following the marquee event debacle, ECB managing director Rob Key named Ben Stokes as the notable candidate for a leadership role in ODIs.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

“Ben Stokes is one of the best captains I’ve ever seen, so it would be stupid not to look at him. It’s just the knock-on effect of what that means,” Key stated.

“You look at every single option and think: What is the best thing to do? How is that going to impact other things?” he added.

In light of this statement, Stuart Broad has downplayed the idea of making Stokes the skipper of the ODI side, terming it a “decision of desperation.”

“I would be lost for words if England appointed him,” Broad stated.

The pacer highlighted Ben Stokes’s workload management and commitment to Test cricket in taking on this role.

“Firstly, there’s the schedule. He’s skipping the IPL to focus on Test cricket and manage his body for major assignments ahead. How many overs has Stokes successfully bowled in the last three years while battling knee injuries? Not many.”

“And now you’re going to add the workload of bowling eight to ten overs per match in the 50-over format? The mathematics of that make no sense,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention that the England team will host India for a five-match Test series and will also play the Ashes series later in the year.

READ: ‘Everyone goes through a rough patch’: Former Pakistan captain defends Babar Azam

England cricket supremo Rob Key said on Thursday “it would be stupid” to rule Test captain Ben Stokes out of consideration for the role of skipper of the struggling white-ball team.

Jos Buttler stood down last week following a poor display by the side at the ongoing 50-over ICC Champions Trophy 2025 tournament in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where his team lost all three of their group games.

England have now suffered 10 defeats in 11 white-ball fixtures this year.

Vice-captain Harry Brook had appeared to be the heir apparent to Buttler, but he is likely to be a mainstay in all three international formats, meaning a formidable workload.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director for men’s cricket Rob Key is considering his options for the role of white-ball captain, which include expanding Stokes’s remit.

The 33-year-old Durham all-rounder has proved himself an inspirational captain since succeeding Joe Root as Test skipper. But his age and injury problems mean he has largely operated as a Test specialist for 16 months.

Appointing Ben Stokes as limited-overs captain would mean extending his “Bazball” alliance with Brendon McCullum, now the coach of England’s white-ball teams as well as being in charge of the Test side.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

“I think nothing’s off the table really,” Key told reporters at Lord’s. “Ben Stokes is one of the best captains I’ve ever seen. It would be stupid not to look at him. It’s just the knock-on effect of what that means.”

Stokes, currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, has not played a Twenty20 international since the T20 World Cup final in November 2022 and has not featured in a one-day international since the 2023 50-over World Cup in India.

Former England batsman Key acknowledged that England’s limited-overs form had declined sharply and their batting had “fallen off a cliff”.

England won the ODI World Cup under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan in 2019 and triumphed at the T20 World Cup under Buttler three years later. But they have slumped to seventh in the ODI rankings and are third in the T20I rankings.

“We were very poor in the Champions Trophy,” said Key. “But the truth is, we haven’t been particularly good in white-ball cricket, probably since the last era when (retired captain) Eoin Morgan did it.”

England have been criticised for pursuing an ultra-aggressive approach under McCullum, regardless of the match situation, but Key said the former New Zealand captain’s coaching methods were more nuanced.

“It’s not true that the only thing he (McCullum) says is go harder, go harder, go harder,” said Key. “He speaks all the time about soaking up pressure as well.”

READ: Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub among Pakistan players to enter The Hundred 2025 Draft

LONDON: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday, provided an update on the injury of the national men’s Test captain Ben Stokes.

The star all-rounder has been ruled out of all forms of cricket after tearing his left hamstring during the third Test against New Zealand, team management confirmed.

He had already been ruled out of next year’s ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the preceding white-ball tour of India.

Further assessments have since revealed the full extent of the injury, with Stokes set to undergo surgery in January, said an England and Wales Cricket Board statement.

Stokes suffered the injury while bowling during the third Test against New Zealand in Hamilton last week.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Stokes did not bat in the second innings of that match as England slumped to a 423-run defeat — a result that meant his side still won a three-match series 2-1.

“Something else to overcome…go on then!!!!!!!! I’ve got so much more left in this tank and so much more blood, sweat and tears to go through for my team and this shirt,” Ben Stokes wrote on social media.

“There’s a reason I have a Phoenix permanently inked on my body.”

Stokes previously missed this year’s home series against Sri Lanka and the first Test in Pakistan after tearing the hamstring on the same left leg in August.

England’s next Test is at home to Zimbabwe in May. They will then host a five-match Test series against India starting in June before their pinnacle 2025/26 Ashes tour of Australia.

READ: India face major blow as key pacer ruled out of Australia Tests

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced the updated Central Contract list for the Men’s international cricket season for 2024-25.

A total of 29 players received England central contracts, including seven players who were awarded two-year contracts, 19 securing annual contracts, and three receiving Development contracts.

England Men’s captains Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler have both signed extensions and are now contracted on two-year deals. Test captain Stokes was previously on a one-year contract and white-ball captain Buttler was on a two-year contract.

Five players have signed England Central Contracts for the first time under the new multi-year system that was introduced last year.

Jamie Smith has signed a two-year contract while Will Jacks, Shoaib Bashir, Phil Salt and Olly Stone have signed one-year contracts.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Jacob Bethell and Josh Hull have earned England Development Contracts for the first time to join John Turner.

A further three players who were already contracted have also renewed with Gus Atkinson signing a two-year contract while Jack Leach and Reece Topley have agreed on a further one-year contract each.

The system, which covers both red-ball and white-ball players, considers the likelihood of players featuring in England teams across formats over the next period while recognising performances in the preceding year.

Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket, Rob Key, said: “The strength and depth of talent across England Men’s red and white-ball cricket is clear in the quality of players who are centrally contracted.

“These contracts reward the players we believe will play an important role for our England Men’s teams. Both our captains, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, have signed two-year central contracts that showcase the commitment of all the players to prioritise playing for their country.

“I want to congratulate all the players who have signed new central contracts ahead of what is set to be an exciting period for England Men’s cricket.”

England Men Central Contract List

Two-year contracts: Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Ben Stokes, and Mark Wood.

One-year contracts: Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Josh Tongue, Reece Topley, Chris Woakes

Development contracts: Jacob Bethell, Josh Hull and John Turner.

READ: Hong Kong Sixes: Asif Ali’s blitz powers Pakistan to victory over India

England Test captain Ben Stokes on Wednesday, revealed that a few masked persons broke into his house in England while he was on tour to Pakistan for a three-match series.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Stokes shared he was robbed of jewellery and other valuables and a good deal of personal items and sought help in locating the burglars.

“On the evening of Thursday 17th October, a number of masked people burgled my home in the Castle Eden area in the North East. They escaped with jewellery, other valuables and a good deal of personal items. Many of those items have real sentimental value for me and my family. They are irreplaceable,” Stokes wrote.

“This is an appeal for any help in finding these people who carried out this act,” he added.

The date of the burglary, mentioned by Ben Stokes, was during the second Test between Pakistan and England.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The all-rounder also shared a series of pictures with a detailed statement, which suggested that his OBE medal was among the stolen valuables.

“By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out whilst my wife and 2 young children were in the house.

“Thankfully, none of my family came to any physical harm. Understandably, however, the experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state. All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.”

“I am releasing photographs of some of the stolen items – which I hope may be easily identified – in the hope that we can find the people who are responsible for this.

“Although we have lost cherished possessions, to be clear, my sole motivation in sharing these photographs is not the recovery of material items. It is to catch the people who did this.”

READ: “Has to prove he is Viv Richards,” Ramiz Raja on Babar Azam

England Test captain Ben Stokes acknowledged the spin duo of Noman Ali and Sajid Khan that powered Pakistan to a drought-ending Test series victory at home.

Pakistan’s decision to make four massive changes after the first Test thrashing paid off as their spin duo of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, coming in as Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah’s replacement, gave a new life to the struggling hosts.

The spin duo claimed 39 out of 40 England wickets to fall in the remaining two Tests, coupled with handy and timely cameos to further traumatize the touring side.

Their mastery of spin steered Pakistan to their first home Test series victory since 2021.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The spin duo also received words of acknowledgement from England captain Ben Stokes, who termed them too good to tackle by his aggressive batting lineup, which racked up a humongous total of 823/7d in the first innings of the opening Test against Pakistan.

“You’ve got to hold your hands up to say that those two in particular were obviously too good for our batting line-up in those last two games,” Stokes said.

“Credit to Noman and Sajid, the way in which they bowled in the second Test match and in this game, you know it was very good and challenging,” he added.

Reacting to the series defeat, Ben Stokes shared that it is hurtful and disappointing to lose games for England before highlighting the need for consistency.

“Losing games for England hurts so it’s disappointing,” said Stokes.

“We need to do things for longer. As I said, we did good things in very small amounts of times at certain points throughout the second game and this game.

“But when you don’t sustain that, you know you’re always going to start falling away.”

READ: Babar, Shaheen react to Pakistan’s drought-ending Test series win

England captain Ben Stokes has stated that he apologised to his teammates for showing his frustrations during his side’s crushing 152-run defeat in the second Test against Pakistan in Multan.

The visitors were left to rue two dropped catches on day three in Multan, Salman Agha escaping on four and six on his way to a crucial half-century as Pakistan made 221 in their second innings.

England were set to chase an unlikely 297 to seal the series with a match to go but never got close on a sharply turning Multan pitch that was recycled from the first Test.

“No one means to drop catches but it just proves how important catches are out in these subcontinent conditions because they don’t come along that often,” Ben Stokes told Sky Sports.

“I actually apologised to the group up there last night.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Stokes, who missed England’s innings victory in the first Test in Multan because of injury, added: “It’s the first time in my captaincy that I’ve let my emotions, how I was feeling as the game was unfolding, show in my body language.

“I owned up to that and I’m very annoyed with myself for letting that out and it’s something I don’t want to do or be seen to be doing.

“So I apologised to the group about that and I said it was poor old me coming out, tired, grumpy old man last night but you won’t see that happen again.”

The third and final Test is in Rawalpindi from October 24 and Stokes refused to look backwards or wonder what might have been.

“Next week is going to be good. I’m sure everyone’s enjoyed watching here and back home,” said the skipper. “Hopefully we can get a win next week and go home with another series win.”

READ: Shan Masood opens up on strategy behind Pakistan’s Multan Test win

LONDON: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday, named their Playing XI for the second Test against Pakistan, marking the return of their regular captain Ben Stokes.

Stokes had been sidelined since August 2024 due to a torn hamstring which he sustained during this year’s edition of The Hundred.

The injury put the all-rounder in doubt for the Pakistan series but he recovered sooner than expected and eventually attained complete fitness for the second Test.

Ben Stokes replaced right-arm pacer Chris Woakes, marking one of the two changes made by the touring party. The second change saw Matthew Potts replacing the rested Gus Atkinson.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The pacers experienced a stiff workload in the series opener on the surface, favouring the batters. Atkinson bowled a total of 39 overs across two innings, followed by Carse with 38, and Woakes with 35.

Atkinson and Woakes were a regular part of all the six Tests of England home summer while Carse is assumed to be well-rested, considering his absence due to a ban that spanned from June to August.

Meanwhile, left-handed batter Ben Duckett has been reinstated as England’s opener for the second Test against Pakistan after recovering from a dislocated thumb, suffered on the second day of the series opener.

As a result, Jamie Smith has been moved to No. 7 to accommodate Ben Stokes in his preferred batting position of No.6.

England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.

READ: Pakistan unveil spin-laden lineup for second Test against England