Ben Stokes : The Next Generation’s Botham

Benjamin Andrew Stokes was born on 4th June 1991 in Christchurch, New Zealand, and is the son of former rugby league player, Gerald Stokes, who represented New Zealand in international Rugby Leagues. He moved to England at the age of 12 after his father was appointed the head coach of Workington Town rugby league club. He grew up in the small West Cumbrian town of Cockermouth, attending Cockermouth School and playing cricket for Cockermouth Cricket Club. Read More

He won the North Lancashire & Cumbria Cricket League Premier Division Title with the club as a 15-year-old in 2006. As of 2013, his parents have moved back to New Zealand and again reside in Christchurch, along with Ben's brothers. Read Less

His sublime talent was clear from an early age and it was no surprise when he signed on a county contract with Durham at the age of 18. He made his ODI debut against Surrey in 2009 and took the wicket of Mark Ramprakash with his third delivery. He played a couple of youth Tests against Bangladesh and excelled with both the bat and the ball. His talent was further noticed in the 2010 U-19 WC where he registered a century against India. He made his First Class debut against MCC at Abu Dhabi in 2010, scoring his first fifty and picking up a wicket. Read More

He had a wonderful 2011, making a lot of runs and taking wickets at the same time and was eventually named in the England ODI squad for the one-off match against Ireland and the home series against India. He made his debut against Ireland in August 2011. He also made his T20I debut in the same year in September against the West Indies. His all-round game saw him being ear-marked as the one to eventually fulfill the all-rounder's role left vacated since the retirement of Andrew Flintoff. Read Less

After performing consistently in the shorter formats for England, Stokes was selected in the England Test side for the Ashes Down Under, in 2013. He made his debut in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval and hit a brilliant maiden Test century in the third Test at Perth. Stokes also bagged a 6-wicket-haul in the first innings of the fifth Test. Read More

Stokes had a fantastic series, finishing as England's second-highest wicket taker with 15 wickets and third-highest run scorer with 279 runs. He was the silver lining in what was a disastrous series for England, who suffered a humiliating 5-0 whitewash. Read Less

After the high of 2013, Stokes did not have a good 2014 as he struggled for form and consistency throughout the year and was eventually dropped from the team. He missed out on the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh due to a freaky hand injury in the locker room during the T20I against the West Indies. Read More

He also missed out from being part of the 2015 World Cup squad due to poor form. The tournament ended disastrously for England, who went out in the group stages. However, that failure embarked the team to change their playing style and the ”New England” project was set in motion. The plan was to play fearless attacking cricket and Stokes has been a major component of that project since then. Read Less

After a string of low scores at the international stage, Stokes showed his class and quality with a brilliant century against New Zealand at Lord's in a Test match. It was the fastest ever Test century scored at Lord's and the second-fastest by an England batsman overall, taking just 85 deliveries. It was just the kick-start that his career required. Read More

During the 2015 Ashes series, he was in prime form against Australia at Trent Bridge when he picked up 5 wickets as the hosts reclaimed the Ashes. During the tour of South Africa later in the year, he played another world-class Test innings, where he scored the second-fastest double century in Tests, off just 163 balls. He ended up scoring 258 runs, his highest score in Test cricket till date. After this series, he became a permanent member of the English XI. Read Less

In the 2016 World T20 held in India, he ended up conceding four consecutive sixes to Carlos Brathwaite, and England were denied the trophy in the most heart-crushing fashion. However, another setback was to follow in Stokes' career in 2017. In the month of September, Stokes got involved in a controversy. He got into a fist-fight with two people outside a bar along with teammate Alex Hales and was charged with a suspension of 8 matches, but the decision was later overturned. Subsequently, he was omitted from the Ashes 2017-18 tour where England was humiliated 4-0. Read More

On 20th February 2017, Stokes was bought by Pune for ₹14.5 crores. He made his maiden T20 hundred against Gujarat, getting 103* in 63 balls with 7 fours and 6 sixes. He was adjudged the Man of the Match a record three times in 14 games before he left for national duty. For his performances in the 2017 season, he was named in the Cricinfo and Cricbuzz XI of the season. In the auction of 2018, he was bought by Team Rajasthan for ₹12.5 crores, becoming the most expensive player of that auction.
Stokes finally had his moment in the sun during the 2019 World Cup in England. The all-rounder showed immense form and contributed superbly with both bat and ball. His catch to dismiss Andile Phehlukwayo in the opening match against South Africa has been described as "one of the greatest catches of all time." Stokes produced multiple standout performances with the bat later in the group stage. The defining moment though was the World Cup final where Stokes scored unbeaten 84 runs to take his side to the Super Over. He was chosen the Player of the Final for playing a crucial role for him to win the title. He was named in the Team of the Tournament for the 2019 World Cup by the ICC.

In the third test of the 2019 Ashes at Headingley, Stokes managed to overturn England’s slim chances for victory with an unbeaten 135* in a record pursuit of 359 runs. His innings has been described as "one of the greatest innings of all time" and the "greatest ever played by an Englishman". Stokes' innings was rated by Wisden as the Greatest Hundred of the Decade (2010's). He was named as England's Player of the Series as he ended the series as England's top run scorer with 441 runs, scoring 2 hundreds and 2 fifties while also taking 8 wickets. With age on his side, it is expected that Stokes will end up as one of the game's greatest all-rounders of all time. For that to happen though, he will have to get a grip over his discipline, an issue that has hounded him aplenty over the years. Read Less