Ben Stokes admits World Cup recall had been his plan all alongside
Stokes insisted forward of the fifth Test at The Oval in July that he would use his day without work to handle his continual left knee damage, which he needed to “get sorted” as quickly as potential. But two weeks later, he was named in England’s squad for his or her four-match collection in opposition to New Zealand and of their provisional World Cup squad, having walked away from ODI cricket in July 2022.
Asked on Wednesday evening about his poker face whereas answering questions on the time, Stokes stated: “Obviously I’ve been asked a lot about my knee over a long period of time, so I just said that to leave it. I knew that I’d be playing in these games and potentially in the World Cup then when I said that, but it was just the easiest thing to say that and put you [the press] off the radar.”
Stokes was talking after hitting 182 off 124 balls in England’s thumping win over New Zealand, an innings which broke Jason Roy’s report for the best particular person rating by an England batter in males’s ODIs. “”I did not actually know [about the record] till the bloke on the tannoy introduced it – then I obtained out subsequent ball,” he joked.
Having walked out at 13 for 2 in the third over, Stokes’ innings was the longest and biggest of his ODI career. He said that it had provided a good reminder that 50 overs lasted a long time. “You have far more time than you assume,” he said. “In phrases of recreation consciousness and recreation smartness, right this moment was good for that.
“Today was good for me personally, just to get familiarity again with how 50-over cricket goes. We started off and lost a few quick wickets, then wanted to go out and put them under a bit of pressure. There were a couple of times I had to check myself because I looked up and there were still 23-24 overs left – that’s how one-day cricket can go.
“The factor that I got here to grasp all through the innings was how a lot time there really is. There have been a few levels the place I used to be scoring fairly freely and felt like I needed to maintain on going and going and going, however realising what number of overs I had was the massive factor for me.”
He said that he has not changed his approach since moving to No. 4, but admitted that playing as a specialist batter over the next few months has prompted a mentality shift with regards to his batting.
“This is the primary time that I’ve been clear in my thoughts that that is the one factor I can concentrate on,” he said. “I feel over the past 18 months, every single day has been, ‘will I bowl, will I not bowl?’ Now, I do know that I can simply concentrate on that… that is my factor for the crew now. Having that readability in my head contributes to that.
“I’d prefer not to go in that early because I want to see the other lads at the top do well. I don’t think I’ve necessarily changed my approach in one-day cricket from all the years I spent at No. 5 or 6… I still think that batting at No. 4, I’ll go out with the exact same approach I had at No. 5.”