Ben Stokes was asked to talk through his England team-mates on the eve of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Ben Stokes was asked to talk through his England team-mates on the eve of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
When it came to describing himself, he replied: ‘Can bat a bit, bowl a bit and field a bit’. A bit?
The all-rounder produced the perfect all-round display, top-scoring with 89 off 79 balls, his highest international score for two years, as the hosts opened their campaign in style at The Oval. Two wickets from his 17 deliveries rattled out South Africa’s lower order as the world number one side claimed a commanding 104-run victory.
But it was THAT catch, which remained the talking point.
“It’s the best catch I’ve ever seen in the flesh,” said England spinner Graeme Swann, while Nasser Hussain and Phil Tufnell went even further labelling it the ‘greatest catch ever’.
Of course, it’s all subjective. Black Caps fans will point to Daniel Vettori’s flying one-hander against the West Indies in the World Cup four years ago while Jonty Rhodes probably has multiple entries worth of consideration, especially his full elevation sprawl to dismiss Robert Croft when the tournament was last held in England.
And then there was Bermuda’s Dwayne Leverock, underlining the power of skill over size with his full length dive to dismiss Indian opener Robin Uthappa 12 years ago.
But perhaps the most similar catch was Vasbert Drakes’s dismissal of Canada’s John Davison in 2003. Much like Stokes, he found himself in the wrong position, adjusting to take a snaffle the ball as it flew behind him on the long-on boundary.
Even the commentator was stunned, slamming him for ‘completely misjudging it’ before realising, somewhat red-faced, that the ball was actually in his hand.
But Stokes was playing down all this talk, claiming it wasn’t even his best catch – which is either another self-effacing masterstroke or a very clever humble brag.
He admitted he was in the wrong position, perhaps knowing the game was already in the bag he’d idled away from his boundary position as Andile Phehlukwayo swept Adil Rashid into distance.
Frantically back-pedalling, Stokes threw out a despairing arm and launched himself backwards like Dick Fosbury, crashing to earth with the ball embedded in his right hand.
He saluted the crowd and stood with his hands on hips, almost a little disbelieving as Rashid sprinted a full 80 yards to mob his team-mate.
“To be honest, I had a little bit of a panic, I was a little bit further in than I should have been,” said Stokes.
“The crowd’s reaction behind me was pretty awesome, I just tried to take that in as much as I could.
“The crowd were phenomenal which is the best thing about having a home World Cup.”
Stokes even claimed his dismissal of Australian Adam Voges in the Ashes four years ago was better.
“It was against the Aussies, so that ranks higher,” he joked.
By his own high standards, Stokes did not enjoy a stellar campaign in the Indian Premier League, taking six wickets and averaging 20 with the bat in his nine matches with the Rajasthan Royals.
He didn’t get among the wickets in the five-match ODI series with Pakistan, though an unbeaten 71 at Trent Bridge showed his destructive power.
However, Stokes likes to think of himself as a big game player – and there won’t be many bigger games than the 10 that lie ahead, if England are to reach their first men’s Cricket World Cup final since 1992.
“The best thing about being an all-rounder is you can influence the game pretty much the whole 100 overs,” he added.
“It is always nice when you can contribute to the team winning. The most pleasing thing is we have got the first game out of the way and winning like that. There were a few nerves knocking about, there definitely was for me and I have not felt like that in a long time.
“There has been such a long build up to the World Cup and answering questions on it for about a year now and now we are finally here. It’s just nice to walk away with a win.”
Ben Stokes was asked to talk through his England team-mates on the eve of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
When it came to describing himself, he replied: ‘Can bat a bit, bowl a bit and field a bit’. A bit?
The all-rounder produced the perfect all-round display, top-scoring with 89 off 79 balls, his highest international score for two years, as the hosts opened their campaign in style at The Oval. Two wickets from his 17 deliveries rattled out South Africa’s lower order as the world number one side claimed a commanding 104-run victory.
But it was THAT catch, which remained the talking point.
“It’s the best catch I’ve ever seen in the flesh,” said England spinner Graeme Swann, while Nasser Hussain and Phil Tufnell went even further labelling it the ‘greatest catch ever’.
Of course, it’s all subjective. Black Caps fans will point to Daniel Vettori’s flying one-hander against the West Indies in the World Cup four years ago while Jonty Rhodes probably has multiple entries worth of consideration, especially his full elevation sprawl to dismiss Robert Croft when the tournament was last held in England.
And then there was Bermuda’s Dwayne Leverock, underlining the power of skill over size with his full length dive to dismiss Indian opener Robin Uthappa 12 years ago.
But perhaps the most similar catch was Vasbert Drakes’s dismissal of Canada’s John Davison in 2003. Much like Stokes, he found himself in the wrong position, adjusting to take a snaffle the ball as it flew behind him on the long-on boundary.
Even the commentator was stunned, slamming him for ‘completely misjudging it’ before realising, somewhat red-faced, that the ball was actually in his hand.
But Stokes was playing down all this talk, claiming it wasn’t even his best catch – which is either another self-effacing masterstroke or a very clever humble brag.
He admitted he was in the wrong position, perhaps knowing the game was already in the bag he’d idled away from his boundary position as Andile Phehlukwayo swept Adil Rashid into distance.
Frantically back-pedalling, Stokes threw out a despairing arm and launched himself backwards like Dick Fosbury, crashing to earth with the ball embedded in his right hand.
He saluted the crowd and stood with his hands on hips, almost a little disbelieving as Rashid sprinted a full 80 yards to mob his team-mate.
“To be honest, I had a little bit of a panic, I was a little bit further in than I should have been,” said Stokes.
“The crowd’s reaction behind me was pretty awesome, I just tried to take that in as much as I could.
“The crowd were phenomenal which is the best thing about having a home World Cup.”
Stokes even claimed his dismissal of Australian Adam Voges in the Ashes four years ago was better.
“It was against the Aussies, so that ranks higher,” he joked.
By his own high standards, Stokes did not enjoy a stellar campaign in the Indian Premier League, taking six wickets and averaging 20 with the bat in his nine matches with the Rajasthan Royals.
He didn’t get among the wickets in the five-match ODI series with Pakistan, though an unbeaten 71 at Trent Bridge showed his destructive power.
However, Stokes likes to think of himself as a big game player – and there won’t be many bigger games than the 10 that lie ahead, if England are to reach their first men’s Cricket World Cup final since 1992.
“The best thing about being an all-rounder is you can influence the game pretty much the whole 100 overs,” he added.
“It is always nice when you can contribute to the team winning. The most pleasing thing is we have got the first game out of the way and winning like that. There were a few nerves knocking about, there definitely was for me and I have not felt like that in a long time.
“There has been such a long build up to the World Cup and answering questions on it for about a year now and now we are finally here. It’s just nice to walk away with a win.”
