Ben Stokes insists he’s ‘not the messiah’ as he confirms Cricket World Cup return vs South Africa
Ben Stokes has declared himself fit for Saturday’s crunch World Cup fixture with South Africa and told England they must summon up the spirit of last summer’s Ashes to revive their fortunes in the tournament.
Stokes, dubbed the team’s “spiritual leader” by coach Matthew Mott earlier this week, is ready to take the field again after recovering from what he initially feared was a tournament-ending hip injury shortly after arriving in India.
His return is a huge boost after two damaging defeats inside the first three games, including last Sunday’s shock loss by unfancied Afghanistan, that has left England needing to win five of their final six group matches to guarantee a semi-final place.
Yet just like last summer’s Ashes, when England’s Test captain insisted the 2-0 deficit to Australia was the “perfect position” for his team to be in before they stormed back to draw 2-2, Stokes believes the same applies to a white-ball team who are double world champions after claiming the 50-over and T20 titles over the past four years. “I think it is the perfect position,” he said.
“You hear me say it a lot – I don’t care if we lose. I want us to go out there and play in the way we talk about. If we’re going to go down, let’s go down doing what we’re known for. Let’s not be timid, be restricted in what we want to do. We want to go out and show the opposition what England is and what we’ve been known for. We’re double world champions.”
Stokes missed England’s first three games of the tournament after ripping the fascia – a thin casing of connective tissue – off a muscle near his left hip in the gym five days before the opening game against New Zealand.
“It’s a very rare one to do,” he admitted. “I heard it pop, and when I initially did it I thought I was done, I was out [of the World Cup]. We got the scans back maybe two days later. I’ve worked to get back to a position of fitness where I’m able to go out and actually have a positive influence on the team.”
Stokes came through a full training session at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium unscathed on Thursday evening, moving freely as he took a full part in fielding drills and then looking at his big-hitting best when he batted in the nets for around 25 minutes.
Mark Wood insisted after the opening defeat by New Zealand that England could not be overly reliant on Stokes, who hit his country’s highest ODI score of 182 in his last appearance against New Zealand at The Oval five weeks ago. And the team’s talisman insists he cannot guarantee victory against South Africa.
“I’m not the Messiah, I think Woody’s said that, which is true,” said Stokes. “I’m one person in a team sport, one person who can add certain bits. It doesn’t all of a sudden mean you’re going to win a game because I know I’m just a very small part of a bigger entity.
“Everyone who walks on to that field for England is a match-winner in their own right. If two or three of us have a day out we know we’ll be a hard team to beat. I don’t think anyone in team sport coming back in automatically means you’re going to win a game.
“All I can try and do is what I do every single time I wear an England shirt and give my absolute all.
“It’s our fourth game. I just feel ready to play. We’re not panicking about anything that’s gone on. We just need to get on a roll. We’ve got a great chance to do that, starting on Saturday.”
Jofra Archer has also arrived in Mumbai and the fast bowler, a travelling reserve who is continuing his rehabilitation from a long-term elbow injury, briefly took part in training, although he did not bowl.
