Ben Stokes: A legacy to be remembered for generations

“Once upon a time, the man had a love affair with fire,” American novelist Robert R. McCammon wrote in his book Swan Song. The same implies to the fiery ODI career of Ben Stokes. August 25, 2011, it was a bit cloudy morning at Castle Avenue in Dublin, Ireland. It was the day when Ireland hosted England for an only ODI encounter and a 20-year-old Stokes was making his ODI debut.

These were also the years when English cricket was going through a transitional phase in the white-ball format.  During this phase of renaissance, an all-rounder was the need of the hour for English cricket. An all-rounder who can take control of the game anytime either with the bat or ball.

The English management went on to count on the young Stokes for the role. However, he got only 3 runs off 10 balls with the bat and skipper Eoin Morgan opted not to go with him with the ball.

Stokes’ name was not alien to the cricketing fraternity as everybody was well-aware of his amazing all-around skills. The Christchurch-based lad drew the attention of all cricket experts and fans when he smashed a century against India in the Under-19 World Cup of 2010 and helped England defeat India by 31 runs.

He had also shown his skills with the ball during his stint with Durham in the English County Championship. But, above all this, a flop international debut was something that led to a few questions. Nonetheless, England invested in Stokes in the next couple of bilateral clashes. Stokes got a chance against India in a five-match ODI series, but he couldn’t impress the management.

His poor start in international cricket continued for the next few matches, but things started to change and he registered the first five-wicket haul of his career against Australia in the last of the five-match ODI series. Though, even his five-wicket haul could not help England win the match and they lost the series 1-2.

Survived the issues with discipline and attitude

Apart from some poor outings in the initial phase of his career, Stokes also had to go through tough times when he was sent back from the Australia tour due to a breach of disciple alongside Kent’s Matt Coles. It was  a big setback for a cricketer who was in the process to fix his spot in the team.

But Stokes came up firmly and helped Durham to win the Championship that season. Later on, the English management recalled him to the white-ball side. Subsequently, on the back of his stellar performances, they picked him for 2013-14 Ashes.

It was the time when his name flashed into the headlines for some good reason as the then 23-year-old was the only positive outcome for England on that tour. He returned for the Three Lions as a player at his peak. Following Jonathon Trott’s unexpected exclusion from the team, Stokes proved his vitality by scoring his maiden Test hundred in Perth.

An unforgettable star born after enduring the agonies

However, an agony was waiting to come to his name. It was the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 and England locked horns with West Indies at Kolkata’s Eden Garden. The match entered into the last over when West Indies required 19 runs off six balls. Skipper Morgan introduced Stokes into the attack but it happened to be one of the disastrous overs of his career as Carlos Braithwaite smashed four consecutive sixes off him and took the Caribbean side home with the second World T20 title.

But three years later, Stokes stood up strongly to register his name as an eternal one in history. England was playing the ICC ODI World Cup 2019 at their home and took on New Zealand in the final of the World Cup at Lord’s. An outstanding knock of unbeaten 84 from Stokes helped England win their first ever 50-over World Cup in a nail-biting thriller as the game ended in a tie after 50 overs, followed by another tie in the Super Over.

A big achievement in the longest format of the game

On the grounds of his stellar contributions on the field for the team, the management invested in him as they appointed him as the full-time Test skipper of England when Joe Root stepped down. Stokes won his maiden Test series as captain against New Zealand with a handsome score-line of 3-0. His purple patch in captaincy continued in the rescheduled Test match against India where they won by seven wickets and leveled the series by 2-2.

Appearing in his last ODI against South Africa at Durham on July 19, the 31-year-old couldn’t perform up to the expectations. But by that time, he had earned so much for English cricket that a performance in the farewell match was not that mandatory.

Streets will remember the New Zealander who took English cricket to new heights and bid adieu to the white-ball format at the peak of his career.