'It’s not a regret' - Ben Stokes hated cricket after his father’s demise

The cricketing fraternity is very much aware of how emotional Ben Stokes was after his father’s death. Despite his will, the current Test captain of the England team wasn’t present during his father’s demise and that bothered him a lot. So much so that it made him hate the game.

Gerard Stokes, his father, passed away in December 2020 following a year-long battle with brain cancer. The former rugby player was in Christchurch in his final moments while his son Ben Stokes was with the England team in South Africa.

Speaking to The Guardian, Stokes recalled how his father encouraged him to play the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and that was the last time Stokes saw his dad. The World Cup winner added that he would have done things differently if he would have known that it was the last time he would see his father.

“The last time I saw Dad was leaving New Zealand to go to the Indian Premier League – that was dictated by cricket. He wanted me to go, he really loved me playing for Rajasthan Royals and the people there,” said the 31-year-old.

The English red-ball captain added, “But it made me hate cricket, I thought it was the reason I didn’t see my dad before he died. I should have opened up about it sooner – I just thought ‘cricket, cricket, cricket. It’s not a regret … but I’d do things differently.”

Ben Stokes blames media for being dishonest during the 2017 brawl controversy

Stokes’ career could have been cut short and England’s dream of winning the 2019 World Cup might have been hindered if the southpaw would have been found guilty of affray after a brawl in 2017.

He, along with Alex Hales, was suspended by the England Cricket Board (ECB) after a video of them fighting outside a bar went viral. Stokes was arrested following the event. To his defense, he said that he was trying to save two gay men who were being abused. The cricketer also blamed the media for not being honest with their reporting.

“When I say the media are pieces of shit, it’s that they jumped to conclusions. I’m not the type of person to play out a vendetta publicly – it’s my moral high ground. But there was stuff people, certain people, journalists, outlets had but chose not to put out there because it didn’t reflect the way I was being written about,” said the cricketer.