England all-rounder Ben Stokes aims to improve reputation in next year's World Cup and Ashes

England’s Ben Stokes is arguably the best all-rounder in the world at present and has exhibited his ability to dominate in all formats of the game. However, while his fans have enjoyed watching his mastery on the cricket field, they haven’t been particularly pleased with his behaviour off it. However, the Englishman now hopes that he can be remembered for what is to come in the future, and not for the recent trouble he’d gotten himself into.

Stokes has been in the news a great deal in recent months after he got into a late-night fight in Bristol. He had to make several appearances at court, and although he was found not guilty of affray, he missed out on making it to the national squad for the 2017-18 Ashes series. Subsequently, Stokes was also forced to give up the England vice-captaincy. Some of the visuals of the incident that were shown to court paint a rather grim picture for the cricketer, but luckily for him, he was cleared of the charges and was allowed to return to playing the sport.

Big year coming up for me: Stokes

Having made a successful return to the England side, Ben Stokes now hopes his performances on the pitch are the ones that the cricketing fraternity remembers. In particular, he has set his gaze on excelling during the World Cup and the Ashes in 2019, two major tournaments which will both be held on home soil.

Speaking to the BBC in the first series of interviews since his trial, Ben Stokes said, “Everything I do from here onwards is what people will hopefully remember. It’s a big year coming up with two important things – a World Cup and an Ashes – and with them both being in England it’s really exciting.”

Nevertheless, Stokes has been charged with bringing the game into disrepute, and still faces an ECB Cricket Discipline Commission hearing in early December along with England teammate Alex Hales. But the all-rounder made it clear that “there’s other things on my mind that take precedence over that”.

“I’m totally focused on cricket now. We’ve such a big summer coming up. It’s all about looking forward,” he said.

Ben Stokes is currently in Sri Lanka with the touring England side. The hosts registered a thumping victory in the 5th and final ODI in Colombo, but England had already attained an unassailable 3-0 lead before the humiliating 219-run defeat. The two teams will take each other on in a one-off T20I before the 3-match Test series gets underway.

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