FIERY, EXPRESSIVE, assertive; a winner all the way. Ben Stokes epitomises all these descriptions and more. England’s hero in the 2019 World Cup and the Ashes has been a controversial figure who has had a rocky relationship with the home media. And so, his second book, On Fire: My Story of England’s Summer to Remember, is his way of sharing his thoughts on all that preceded and happened during the World Cup and the drawn Ashes series that followed. The book is set to release in India in the coming months.
Be it the unprecedented Super Over in the World Cup final or the dramatic win in the third Ashes Test at Headingley, it seems like the more Stokes tries to be an ordinary human being, the more he has extraordinary moments in his life.
In his book, Stokes says he finds it surprising that he has a fan following and that his face is splashed across the front and back pages of newspapers, an honour usually reserved for the famous footballers of the country. Stokes is one of the reasons a new generation is following cricket in England, and the book will only add to his growing legend.
The all-rounder is the X factor that spurred on England, led by Eoin Morgan and featuring a set of players with no baggage of past losses, to finally become a World Cup-winning team. Stokes says he found himself in match-winning positions so often because of the platform his teammates built. He also credits his time with the Rajasthan Royals for honing his big-match mentality.
In the book, Stokes relives every match that England played on the way to the final of the World Cup. Needless to say, the larger-than-life final finds maximum space in the book. He also has a few sympathetic and understanding words for the umpires in the final, who were later accused of messing up calculations.
For Stokes and his team, the favourites heading into the tournament, the World Cup journey was far from smooth. Stokes shared his moments of nervousness with his team before the crucial match against India, which England won, and the nerve-racking final against New Zealand, where he was asked to go out and bat again in the Super Over after scores were tied. He also takes the reader inside the England dressing room post the World Cup win.
Compared with his early days, he admits to putting in a lot more thought behind every ball he faces, which is one of the reasons his performances have been key to England’s recent success in all formats.
A hard competitor on field, he expresses his respect for New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and the way he handled the World Cup loss due to an obscure boundary count-back rule. However, he says he was surprised by the choice of Williamson as player of the tournament ahead of Rohit Sharma, who scored five hundreds and was the fulcrum of India’s batting in the tournament.
Stokes has now become a senior member of the team in all formats and is part of the leadership group. Not many would have had the gumption to “request” their vice captaincy back after having it taken away because of a controversy (the 2018 Bristol nightclub brawl). Stokes reveals in the book how, heart in his mouth, swallowing all his ego and pride, he did just that.
As is clear from the book, Stokes is ready to be a leader, and is a prime candidate to replace Eoin Morgan in future. But whether that happens or not, the story of Ben Stokes will only get bigger and better.
On Fire: My Story of England’s Summer to Remember
Publisher: Headline Books
Pages: 320
Price: Rs318 (Kindle version)