Andrew Strauss, former England captain and Director of England cricket, has on Tuesday, 16th July, urged 2019 Word Cup Final hero Ben Stoke to not get over by his heroics against New Zealand and keep continue forward that momentum for the Three Lions.
Suggesting Stokes to stay grounded after the all-rounder earned England’s World Cup hero status after their incredible triumph in the event, Strauss warned him not to be distracted by his sudden popularity.
Strauss stated, “What will be hard for Ben going forward is the levels of adulation he’ll receive. That was a burden for Freddie Flintoff. He often lived up to it and that was great, but increasingly you are under more and more pressure to be the man every time you play and that is a big burden.”
While recalling the time when the 28-year-old was trapped in the Bristol controversy, Strauss said he was already sensed that Stokes would have a great time on the field despite that storm.
He recalled, “You know what, I just remember going down to the police station with Ben. I spent a long time with Clare, his wife, waiting for him to come out of the jail. What struck me as soon as he came out was actually his character. Because he stood up and said, ‘I’ve got this horribly wrong. I apologize sincerely for what I’ve done here’.
From that moment on, I thought this was going to be a good thing for him. It was very hard to know which way it was going to go. People can go two ways after something like that happens to them. Anyone who knows Ben and who has played with him knows what an incredible person he is to have on your team.”
Strauss signed off by saying, “What we’ve seen is some of those rough edges just smoothed a little bit over the last 12 or 18 months without him losing that incredible desire and hunger to win. It’s an easy story to say what happened in the World Cup final is redemption for him, but I just think it was one of English cricket’s talents showing what he can do on the greatest stage.”
(With AFP Inputs)
