Ben Stokes played a pivotal role in England winning their first ICC men’s World Cup trophy, yesterday, last year. Stokes’ inspirational knock of 84 not out off 98 deliveries helped England force the match into Super Over, in which both teams scored 15 runs each off six deliveries.
It has now been revealed that Stokes took a cigarette break to calm his nerves before the Super Over. He ran inside the shower to clear his head before the most important over in the history of England cricket. “Stokes had played at Lord’s many times. He knows every nook and cranny. As Eoin Morgan tries to bring calm to the England dressing room and sort out their tactics, Stokes nips off for a moment of peace. He is covered in dirt and sweat. He has batted for two hours and 27 minutes of unbelievable tension. What does Stokes do? He goes to the back of the England dressing room, past the attendant’s little office and into the showers. There he lights up a cigarette and has a few minutes on his own,” authors Nick Hoult and Steve James wrote in the book Morgan’s Men: The Inside Story of England’s Rise from Cricket World Cup Humiliation to Glory as per the excerpt published by stuff. co.nz
