“You don’t need to play for England. Think you want to have a good time peeing on the wall with your teammates,” says ex-England coach Andy Flower, psychologically advising England player Ben Stokes.
On a hot, dry July day in London in 2013, Ben Stokes sat in the stands in the stands at Lord’s, next to psychologist Mark Bowden. He struggled throughout that season. Very upset with his poor performance. So Paul Collingwood, his captain at Durham, said, ‘Are you all right?’ He messaged that.
He is not well. But because he doesn’t want to change his flamboyant tattoo-star image, he doesn’t want to share his heartache with his team members. But he realized he needed to open up to someone. For that, Mark Bowden decided he was the man to go.
Bowden, who worked with some English teams, listened to what Ben Stokes was thinking before concluding that he was suffering from depressive insomnia. Naturally, Ben Stokes kept his frustrations to himself. And it burned inside until it exploded. He needs to clear up otherwise this bad situation will continue. It’s been a bad summer mentally. The ability to shoot balls was decreasing.
The year got off to a rocky start in January when he and Matt Coles were asked to pull out of the England Lions tour of Australia. Andy Flower was one of the people involved in making the difficult decision. The young man had some tough things to say. It is depression insomnia.
It doesn’t mean having a private chat with a counselor. In March 2014, frustration over a poor tour of the West Indies saw Ben Stokes punch a locker in the dressing room. He broke his arm and was forced to miss the World T20. There were more meetings with Mark Bowden. He was given the habit of being angry. Go to the changing room and collect your kit-bag. That packing process helped calm Ben Stokes a few times.
Mark Bowden, a psychologist who assisted Ben Stokes, likes to categorize his sports subjects into two categories: Assassins (thinkers) and Warriors (feelers). He joins Alastair Cook in the former team. Stokes definitely falls into the ‘warrior’ category.
“What I try to do is hope to break illusions for others. People often think that faith here is absolute unquestioning, unbreakable self-confidence. In ordinary life, everyone experiences fear, anxiety and lack of self-confidence,” Bawden once said. “My job is to help people realize that faith is not the absence of fear or doubt, it’s faith in your method.” He said that.
Even worse things will happen. We know the backstory: the pub brawl that threatened his life, his father’s death, his mental struggles, cementing his position as Test captain alongside ODI World Cup star and now T20 World Cup champion Brendon McCullum. Michael Vaughan proved in form he thought he wasn’t too keen on.
Another T20 final would give him an even bigger upset. West Indian Carlos Brathwaite, a batmaker, shattered his illusions to win the T20 World Cup final. In a Kolkata minute, things threatened to take a turn for the worse. England almost had two hands on the trophy, but Ben Stokes let his grip slip and lost the trophy. That night, on the team bus, he couldn’t help but update a Twitter post. Pleasantly surprised to find more support than abuse. At this time, he did not control his emotions and mentally overcome the defeat as much as possible.
Mental issues will develop and he will admit them publicly. Will take a break – Ravi Shastri will praise this move and use it to urge Virat Kohli to take a break so it doesn’t get too much. Ben Stokes returns and takes over as Test captain. McCullum did not approach Ben Stokes, despite any doubts about his approach. Even former captain Joe Root would be moved to say that he never enjoyed cricket as much as he did under Ben Stokes.
Now there was only one left. T20 World Cup. When he came to the World Cup, he had not played a T20 for 18 months. Butler sat him down for a chat. “When we got here, before we got to a practice, he sat me down for five or 10 minutes and said, ‘This is your role, this is what I want you to do,'” he said. In fact, that 10-minute chat made me realize how I can impact the game.” He said that. Also, Ben Stokes will provide what he needs in that must-win game against Sri Lanka. It pushed England into the semi-finals. And now, the final has been won.
That confidence in his method, Bowden spoke of then, means he won’t be too flustered if Ben Stokes gets some of his shots wrong. He pushed a few balls from Naseem Shan and Haris Rauf and missed. But unlike the young Harry Brook, he tried to counter-attack with Slack. Ben Stokes was unfazed. He would walk across the brook to calm him down.
With 38 needed off 26 balls, Ben Stokes struck. Nervous, ambitious, believed in his own game. Against him Shatab Khan. He is an excellent leg spinner. Ben Stokes is back after hitting the first ball to long off boundary. Nasser Hussain started to become like a bill lorry. What followed was a thriller: Stokes backed off, Shadab stressed.
At Christmas 2013, Stokes was walking with his girlfriend Clare – Ben Stokes became a father aged 21. He has a son and a daughter – the couple met Andy Flower while chatting with other coaches. He told Clare, “I really want to tell him, I told you, I had it.” Claire stopped him. Flower said he should have used it to encourage him and not humiliate him. Stokes knew that she and the flower were indeed right.
“Get all Tamil Indian Express news instantly on Telegram app https://t.me/ietamil“