NZ v England: Stokes eager to make amends for tough Pakistan tour
Ben Stokes has addressed his shortcomings in England’s recent tour of Pakistan, saying he was not himself during the 2-1 series loss.
With his team preparing to face New Zealand in the first Test in Christchurch on Thursday, the English captain revealed he had “cleared the air with the lads” after what was a difficult tour on a personal front.
“It was one of my hardest trips, but also one that I’ve hugely benefitted from,” Stokes said on Tuesday.
“I had my hamstring injury, and as soon as I could get going again, I had a focus on a date to get back.
“I worked incredibly hard for a very, very long period of time.
“When we got out to Pakistan, obviously pushing and pushing and pushing myself to get ready for that first Test, made a late call and then tried to get myself ready for the second Test.”
During the second Test, Stokes was visibly frustrated at dropped catches — something that goes against the blame-free culture he has been championing since taking over the captaincy in 2022.
Speaking on Tuesday, he revealed that a combination of his injury recovery and mental stress from a robbery of his family home in England led to the outburst, which he has since apologised for.
“I’ve been pretty honest with myself and pretty honest with ‘Baz’ (Brendon McCullum) and the team as well,” he said.
“I got so individually focused on myself over a long period of time of trying to get back from injury.
“I actually I did physically drain and ruin myself, which definitely had some kind of mental impact on me.
“I sort of almost worked myself too hard to get back to fitness, and then all of a sudden, I was out in a Test match.
“It’s made me realise that me being a captain, me being the leader of this team, I can’t take myself into that sort of area ever again — focusing on myself so much as an individual.
“But it wasn’t till I got home that I realised that then, obviously, with the robbery happening, that made more of everything for me out there.”
Stokes explained that his mindset had a negative impact on the team as a whole, not just his individual performance.
“There’s no doubt that my frustration was showing when things weren’t quite going our way,” he said.
“That definitely has an impact on not only the players around me, but also the group and the management around you as well.
“Because everyone’s walking on eggshells around you, because they can sense it.”
Stokes’ comments come as England are +125 underdogs across top bookmakers heading into the first Test.
Cricket betting sites have New Zealand as -111.11 favourites to win in Christchurch after their historic whitewash in India earlier this month.