Ben Stokes has said he has found out who his friends are as a result of last year’s street fight in Bristol. While not yet out of the woods as regards the fallout, the all-rounder hopes match-winning England performances can help reshape his public image.
It is 13 months since a post-match drinking session turned sour in the early hours outside a nightclub and having been found not guilty of affray at Bristol crown court in August following a well publicised trial, one final chapter in the saga remains.
After the tour of Sri Lanka Stokes and his ODI teammate Alex Hales will stand in front of the Cricket Discipline Commission in London in December when they will face two charges of bringing the sport into disrepute; sporting sanctions, including fines and suspensions, could follow.
Despite Trevor Bayliss describing the conclusion of the summer’s court case as a “wake-up call” for Stokes and urging a public show of contrition, the player has kept his counsel. Whether this is for fear of prejudicing the CDC process, and thus an apology would follow after the conclusion, remains to seen.
Instead, during what was a rare media appearance, the 27-year-old simply insisted this impending final hurdle was not proving a distraction to his cricket at present, with his mind instead trained on helping England in the World Cup and the Ashes of 2019. “We’ve got a huge summer coming up [next year] so I’m fully focused on that,” Stokes told the BBC. “Looking at things that went on [in the past] is not the way I like to think about things. It’s all about looking to the future.
“Everything you do from here onwards is what people will hopefully remember. That’s what I’m trying to do. As I said, it’s a big year coming up, two important things – a World Cup and an Ashes – and with both being in England it’s really exciting.”
As well as reiterating how much it means to play for his country, Stokes admitted he has been grateful to his teammates for their support over the past year. Missing last winter’s Ashes tour left the Test side without their talisman in a crushing 4-0 defeat but there has never been so much as a grumble from a colleague.
Stokes said: “You do [feel gratitude]. People say you’ve got your work colleagues and your friends. So you find out who [your friends] are in tough situations and members of this group have been unbelievable. I think if anyone is going through anything in the future I think it’d be exactly the same.”
Asked if he had a message to the England fans, Stokes simply offered, “I will try to win as many games as I can”, and in this regard the England management believe the player witnessed pre-Bristol is ready to re-emerge.
His batting during the 3-1 one-day series win over Sri Lanka appeared to be returning to its fluent best – a bout of cramp during his 60-ball 67 on Tuesday notwithstanding – although Stokes insists his summer strike rate of 41 in the India Tests was due to the bowler-friendly conditions rather than the stop-start nature of the last year.
“It’s nice knowing I have got that self-control,” he said. “It’s not how I try to base my game but it is what the situation called for. I think I realised it’s easier to adapt rather than just go out there and say, ‘I am going to play the way I am known for’.
On how he views his role in future, Stokes added: “Being the player who wants to impact every game is what I’ve always tried to be. I don’t want to look back on my career and say, ‘I wish I’d averaged this or that’.
“I’d rather be remembered as a player who came on and impacted a lot of games for England. If I ever take a selfish thought-process of, ‘I’m doing this for myself’, then things will be seriously wrong.”
Before England’s attention turns fully to the first Test in Galle on 6 November and the white-ball specialists depart, there is Saturday’s one-off Twenty20 international to negotiate.
Chris Jordan has flown in for this single fixture, while Joe Root will likely step aside as he recovers from a minor thumb injury. After an eight-year hiatus, Joe Denly should also get his chance.
Sri Lanka are expected to hand an international debut to Kamindu Mendis, the ambidextrous all-rounder who switches between left- and right-arm finger spin; if the usual evening storms arrive for this 7pm (BST) start, amphibious cricketers may be required.
Likely teams
England: Jos Buttler (wkt), Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Joe Denly, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Tom Curran
Sri Lanka: Niroshan Dickwella (wkt), Sadeera Samarawickrama , Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Kamindu Mendis, Thisara Pererea, Akila Dananjaya, Lasith Malinga, Lakshan Sandakan, Dushmantha Chameera
