With less than a week to go before The Ashes, Ben Stokes stands on the precipice of a legendary status reserved to very few in the history of English cricket. Only five English captains have managed to bring home the urn from ‘down under’ in the post-war era (1954/55, 70/71, 78/9, 86/7, 2010/11). If Stokes manages to emulate this feat, most recently achieved by Andrew Strauss, he will be immortalised amongst England’s greatest ever cricketers. Much has been written about this series being a make-or-break moment in his legacy as captain, but there are so many reasons why his memory as a cricketer will live long after he hangs up the boots.
Firstly, so much of Stokes’ character indicates that he should be successful in Australia, a cauldron where mentally strong and combatant cricketers are rewarded — think Botham, KP and Cook. This was perfectly encapsulated by the all-rounder’s maiden test century. As a young player in a brutal 5-0 series loss in Australia in 2013/14, Stokes fought off a fierce Aussie bowling lineup led by Mitchell Johnson, an early marker of his immense talent.
From that moment onwards, his career went from strength to strength. Across all formats, he boasts 11,080 runs, 330 wickets, 18 centuries and 5 five-wicket hauls, but a career like his could never hope to be described in stats. Instead, it is defined by endless records and superhuman moments. Stokes holds the record for fastest England test half-century (2024 vs West Indies in just 24 balls) and the fastest double century (258 off just 198 balls against South Africa in 2016). In the recent test series against India he also became the first England captain to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in the same match, whilst in 2023, he broke the record for most sixes hit in tests, surpassing Brendon McCullum’s tally.
In terms of moments that define him, it seems that Stokes only gets better when the pressure is on and the stakes are at their highest: see the summer of 2019, when his heroic performance in the 2019 ODI World Cup final at Lord’s which saw England to victory by the ‘barest of all margins’ was followed up by his Headingley Miracle. With England requiring an improbable 359 to win in the 3rd Ashes test, Stokes’ stunning 135* (after a tireless bowling effort the day before) single-handedly saw his team to victory, a showing often regarded as the greatest Test innings of all time. After a period away from the game to prioritise his mental wellbeing, Stokes was once again influential in England’s 2022 T20 World Cup victory, hitting an unbeaten 52 and the winning runs in their victory over Pakistan in the final.
What makes his story all the more inspirational, is that Stokes has had to recover from setback after setback both in his career and personal life, which range far further than numerous physical injuries. The infamous Bristol nightclub incident in 2017, where Stokes was charged and later found not guilty of affray, saw him banned from international cricket for several months, although Stokes testified that he was seeking to protect two gay men from homophobic abuse. More recently, Stokes had to cope with the death of his father, Ged, in December 2020, and took an indefinite break from all forms of cricket due to experiencing frequent panic attacks and anxiety, which he addresses in his documentary Phoenix from the Ashes.
It is this fighting spirit and resilience that makes Stokes such a great fit to lead the test side after 17 losses in a row, seeing through the dawn of a new era in English cricket, the phenomenon branded as ‘Bazball’. Despite drawing plenty of scepticism from the media, it has instilled real hope that England can achieve something special in Australia this winter.
Whatever the outcome of the upcoming series, Stokes has proved time and again that he is already a legend of English cricket – not one to seek out the limelight, but a player who always seems to find it. Win or loss, his history suggests he will be at the centre of the action, with a swashbuckling century or a gutsy ten-over spell, leading from the front and putting his body on the line for the three lions.
“Ben Stokes of England” by Ben Sutherland is licensed under CC BY 2.0.