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Ben Stokes in action. (FILE photo)
England captain Ben Stokes has termed the ongoing period as captain as his “toughest”, adding that he would stick it out through this phase and look into how he can help other players pass through the difficult period. The 34-year-old, who took over the captaincy in 2022, said that he and his side have had a lot to cope with, and a bit of empathy would be helpful.
“This is probably the toughest time right now as an England captain that I’ll have.”
“I’m not going to run away from it. I feel like I will lead for the rest of this trip how I think I can help guys get through it,” Stokes said ahead of the fourth Test starting in Melbourne on Thursday.
“It is very gruelling, and it is tough when you’re here, there, and everywhere. I know people have got things a lot worse than what we do. You have to deal with the emotions of being away [and] the scrutiny that you are under, in particular when things aren’t going well.”
“Everything just gets heightened, but there needs to be a little bit of empathy towards stuff that people might not quite understand, but I guess if you’re not in it and you’re not amongst it, it is hard to understand that. But just in this moment right now, I think a little bit of empathy from everyone would be not too hard to think about, if that makes sense,” he added.
If England’s on-field performances haven’t given Stokes enough headaches, a recent video circulating on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) of opening batter Ben Duckett walking around in an inebriated state has led the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to launch an investigation into the visitors’ trip to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Stokes voiced his support for Duckett, adding that he had an idea of how incidents like these could affect players.
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“He’s an incredibly influential person within this group. But he knows that he’s got the support of myself and the other guys around him as well. This kind of stuff is very … I don’t know if close to me is the right wording, but I have first-hand experience of how this can affect people.”
“It’s never a nice place to be in when not only the media world, but also the social media world, is just piling on top of you. You don’t really have a leg to stand on when you have lost three games in a huge series like this. When you’re winning, everything’s great. When you’re losing, it’s not,” he said.
English (US) ·