If there is one year in which one player has changed the face of sport in the country, then Ben Stokes’ exploits in the World Cup and Ashes ensured cricket in England changed forever.
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In sport, there have been very rare instances when one individual has changed the destiny of a country through sport. Sir Don Bradman ensured Australia as a cricket country would never be looked down upon thanks to his batting wizardry. In India, the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar all changed the landscape of Indian cricket with his skills. In England, the country where cricket and many other sports originated, they had great players but their success on the bigger stage was missing. England was securing success but in major ICC events, they were always falling behind.
But, all that changed in 2019. It was a very important year for England cricket. The ICC World Cup was being played at home after 20 years. The Ashes were also coming. England had crashed out in the opening rounds of the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia, with losses to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, and New Zealand. The losses to New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Australia, and Bangladesh, in particular, were severe. From the ashes of those humiliations, England staged a renaissance.
Attacking and brutal power was now the order of the day. England’s ODI and T20I set-up, under Eoin Morgan, was now challenging the best teams in the world in their own conditions. All this momentum built up to the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. No one knew it at that time, but one individual was about to change the destiny of England cricket.
Ben Stokes was one of the crop of England players who had supreme talent. Born in New Zealand to a father who was a good All Blacks Rugby player, Stokes switched his allegiance to England for cricket. He had made a decent start to his career but in 2014, his career hit rock bottom after he fractured his arm punching a locker. He had three consecutive ducks against India. But, slowly, Stokes got his career back on track.
He too had undergone tremendous pain. In the final over of the 2016 ICC World T20 final, Stokes was hit for four consecutive sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in Kolkata. A year later, he was found guilty of affray and his career was at a crossroads. But, he got a reprieve and his career took off. From 2018 to 2019, Stokes was consistently putting in great performances with the bat and ball.
The crescendo of which came in the 2019 ICC World Cup. In the first match against South Africa at The Oval, Stokes took a brilliant catch to set the tone for England. They were now going into every contest with high intensity. In all the matches, England played with the intensity displayed from champion sides like Australia and India.
England had reached the final against New Zealand at Lord’s. This was New Zealand’s second consecutive final while for England, it was their fourth. The heartbreak of three previous final losses was also playing a part in their psyche. England restricted New Zealand to 241 and in the chase, it was Ben Stokes who was supreme. Stokes blasted 84 and it was his calmness at the end, plus some good fortune, that allowed England to tie the match. In the Super Over, Stokes and Buttler once again pushed England to the brink of victory.
New Zealand tied the Super Over but England was declared the winner on a technicality of more boundaries. Stokes had hurt his adoptive country in a cruel manner. His 84 and Super Over exploits saw England winning the World Cup for the first time. It was Stokes who gave Jofra Archer the confidence to hold his nerve in the Super Over. The success of the World Cup had made Ben Stokes a household name in England. But, he still had one more act of magic. This time, in the Ashes contest against Australia.
England were trailing the five-match series 0-1 after the loss in Edgbaston and draw at Lord’s. Things did not start well for England in Leeds. After bowling out Australia for 179, they were bundled out for a miserable 67. Australia gave England a target of 359 but they were reduced to 286/9. It seemed the Ashes was going out of England’s hands yet again.
Stokes had scored two runs off 50 balls when Joe Root had scored a fifty. He had made steady progress and had notched up a half-century. But, with only one wicket remaining, Stokes changed gears. He blasted sixes at will and found the boundary when the situation demanded. Stokes found an able ally in Jack Leach as the duo turned the tables completely on Australia.
Stokes got England to two runs shy of a win when near-disaster struck. Leach was halfway down the track as Stokes sent him back. Remarkably, Nathan Lyon dropped the throw and the run-out chance was missed. Earlier, Stokes was dropped by Marcus Harris when he had crossed his century. With Stokes on strike, he blasted a four and a miracle was achieved in Leeds. England won by one wicket and achieved their highest successful chase in Test cricket. Stokes’ knock was hailed as a modern-day classic in cricket.
Once again, when the chips were down, Stokes produced a masterclass. In 2019, in the space of two months, Stokes had produced two miracles in Lord’s and Leeds. It was no wonder that the year 2019 was the Annus mirabilis of Stokes’ and England cricket’s history. Calling the Summer of 2019 as the Summer of Stokes would be putting it in a very mild way.
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