Ben Stokes retires: the bottle, the kit bag, and a career like no other
You just want to piss it up the wall with your mates, and have a good time.”Andy Flower said that to Ben Stokes in 2013, after he and Matt Coles were sent home from an England Lions tour of Australia for staying out until 5.30 in the morning. It was the kind of thing said to a talented young man who seemed determined to waste what he had been given.Around Christmas that year, Stokes was walking with his girlfriend Clare when they chanced upon Flower in conversation with other coaches. Stokes wanted to say: I told you so. Clare restrained him. She said Flower must have used it to motivate, not to disparage. Stokes knew she was right. He just couldn’t say it yet. What happened between that Lions tour and a dressing room at Trent Bridge on Sunday is the career.


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