In his cricket career wearing England jersey, he has given a lot. In 2019, Ben Stokes was one of the heroes of England’s first World Cup win. But the surprising information is that he could have played for his motherland, New Zealand. Stokes did not play for Kiwi despite his own desire due to the negligence of the New Zealand Cricket Board and the plans of the England Cricket Board (ECB).
Such information has said in the autobiography of former New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor. Born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1991,
Stokes moved to England with his parents at the age of 12.
But before wearing the England jersey, Stokes had a strong desire to play for his country.
Taylor came to know about this desire of Stokes while playing for Durham in 2010. In his autobiography he wrote, ”He (Stokes) must have been 18 or 19 then and of course he was a Kiwi. I asked him if he wanted to play for New Zealand. He was quite interested then.”
Taylor also wrote, ”At that time I told the chief executive of the New Zealand Cricket Board, Justin Bhare, that the boy, Stokes was very talented and that he wanted to play for New Zealand. Then Vaughan said, he can play domestic cricket if he wants. The rest will be seen later. I tell Vaughn I have to make a better offer to get him. He will not agree to start from the first step.”
Taylor also wrote in his biography, ”Stokes was keen to play in the New Zealand team. If only the New Zealand board would be a little more flexible and give him assurance. But Vaughan was not interested in giving it. That is why the star pace bowling all-rounder who plays in England jersey is currently leading the England Test team.”
Does the New Zealand Cricket Board regret a little? May be the answer is yes.. New Zealand did not win the World Cup because of Stokes’ superhuman performance in the 2019 World Cup final.
Ben Stokes will miss the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony tonight through illness.
The England cricketer is one of six sports stars up for the main award at the ceremony in Salford. His competition includes Lioness Beth Mead, gymnastics starlet Jessica Gadirova, curling captain Eve Muirhead, snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan and 1500m athletics world champion Jake Wightman.
But if he is to win the gong, Stokes will not be there to pick it up in person. He had planned to attend the ceremony, but has returned home after feeling unwell and will watch on the TV.
His wife Clare confirmed the news in a post on social media. In her Instagram story, she posted a photo of the cricket captain wrapped up under some blankets with his eyes closed, with the caption: “All ready for SPOTY here! Except @stokesy has come home with a stomach bug.”
Stokes is the second most fancied to win the award, having enjoyed a stellar first year as England’s Test captain. He led the team to nine wins from 10 matches, most recently making history as England sealed a 3-0 series win over Pakistan – the first ever country to complete a clean sweep in the Asian country.
However, despite his heroics, according to the bookies Stokes and the rest of his fellow nominees will struggle to topple Beth Mead. The England Euro 2022 hero is the overwhelming favourite to take the SPOTY crown.
