The guy who punched that bloke in Bristol says he doesn’t want to be remembered as the guy who punched that bloke in Bristol. A prolonged bout of overcompensatory ‘responsible’ batting has ensured this shouldn’t happen. Ben Stokes is currently ‘the guy whose batting went really boring after he punched that bloke in Bristol’.
Stokes is often described as being someone who ‘makes things happen’ – a description that also applies to every single other person on Planet Earth.
Some of the things Ben Stokes makes happen in a cricket context.
- A peculiarly clear and resonant thwock sound that seems to imply the ball has never been hit more cleanly
- Wickets (sometimes)
- A whole series of sixes in the final over that result in a painful but memorable England defeat (once)
- Very fine catches
- Unnecessarily hard throws to the wicketkeeper
Let us tell you about the other members of England’s World Cup squad
Three days to go. Anybody else starting to get The Fear?
I’ve had the fear since 18 June 1975:
http://ianlouisharris.com/1975/06/18/a-truly-thrice-awful-day-in-my-school-sporting-life-18-june-1975/
Never went away after that day.
[If we’d known we’d never have gone back]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb4vhJaX1hw