The England Test captain talks about the new film by Sam Mendes that showcases the highs and lows of his life and career
Interview by Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Aug-20221:44
Ben Stokes – ‘Every series you play for your country should be important’
This week marks the release of , a documentary on the talismanic England captain, charting the peaks and troughs of one of the most talked about cricketers in the world.As with sportspeople of that ilk, the line between on- and off-field blurs, which lends itself to as honest a final product as you could expect. For every neat behind-the-scenes snippet that keeps projects like these ticking along, there are moments where the allrounder addresses the turmoil experienced throughout his career. The street fight in Bristol in 2017 gets a chunk of pontification in the running time, and rightly so. Much of what emanated from it – the missed Ashes in 2017-18, the return, 2019’s glory, and his mental-health break in 2021 – are all linked in some way to that fateful September evening.The most revealing aspects of the film are around those periods. Stokes opens up about a series of panic attacks – in a Nottingham hotel, the dry cleaners and a kid’s birthday party – that confirmed to him that something wasn’t right, leading to seeking professional help and anxiety medication. Both remain the case, something he spoke about when he took on the captaincy earlier this summer. And his level of distrust of administrators – “suits” as he puts it – emanating from a lack of support during the Bristol controversy, is a reservation he still holds. As revealed in the film, when one of those “suits”, who remains nameless, asked him for a selfie after the 2019 World Cup win at Lord’s, Stokes told him to “f*** off”.”It was very weird watching something that was all about me, but it was like I was watching something about someone I didn’t know”•Getty ImagesThat might be the overriding takeaway of the film. Everything that has happened in Stokes’ career and life is taken with him, and he doesn’t shy away from accepting how much the tough times have forged who and how he is today. The most tragic of those was the passing of his father in 2020, which he is still coming to terms with.Ahead of the film’s release, Stokes spoke about how the film came about, how he hopes it will be received, and what it’s like to present the rough and smooth of his life on his terms.What were your thoughts when you first saw the movie?
When I woke up in the morning knowing I was going to see the first cut of the film, I was a bit anxious, a bit nervous. Because obviously I knew I’d done it, but I didn’t know how it was all going to look when it was put together. All the filmy bits, all that kind of stuff they were going to do to make it look like more than an hour-and-a-half-long interview or whatever it was.I remember when it finished, me and Clare [his wife], we just sort of sat there for 15 seconds in silence. I was like, “Wow.” I was blown away by it. It was very weird watching something that was all about me, but as I’ve said to a few people, it was like I was watching something about someone I didn’t know, even though it was me.Related
Ben Stokes steals the crucial scenes in another box-office display of bravado
Root bats for Stokes on and off field after 'powerful' documentary revelations
Joe Root: Ben Stokes' honesty about mental health epitomises leadership qualities
It's no surprise that Stokes and Cummins have succeeded as captains
Stokes' ODI retirement should prompt change, but won't
Did the movie feel cathartic in any way? The things you talk about, I feel this would be the first time the rest of us will have insight into all this. Those moments when you and Sam Mendes are chatting – from the outside it looks a bit like therapy.
I wouldn’t say it was. Before we even started filming this whole thing, we had a few meetings with Sam and the Whisper team [the production company]. I said if we do this, I want to make sure this is very authentic, almost like realistic. I don’t want it to be a PR thing where it’s like, “Right, let’s just make it all good, prim and proper and all about the good stuff.” I said, if we do it, I want everything in there. I want it to be seen as an account for all the good stuff but also the not-such-good stuff that’s gone on – obviously publicly known, but in more detail. They were very happy after I explained that because that’s exactly how they wanted it to be and the direction they were seeing it going in.So much of your story is sticking by the people you love the most and protecting them. It feels like it must have been a challenge to do something like this – to be as open as you were. There was a powerful moment when your mum discusses the story that was in the . It would have taken a lot for her and for you to talk about.
I guess a great way to explain everything is, I felt I was able to speak a lot more about certain things and it was almost a way of showing that just because something has ended doesn’t mean it’s the end of it. My wife explained the Bristol thing very well: as soon as the trial was over and the verdict came in, people might assume that would be the end of it. But that was the end of one part and the start of something else to do with it.Going back to that stuff about the )I would say the one thing about the way that cricket is at the moment with the schedule is that it needs to be looked at a bit more sensibly. The three formats need to stay around. I’m not one to say we need to get rid of one for the other two to be sustainable or successful. I’m saying the schedule needs to be looked at for all three formats to be sustainable for the people who want to play all three. At the moment, that is not sustainable.I feel when people now look at the schedule, they are looking so far down the line to see, “When can I take a break? What series do I need to miss? Which one isn’t as important?” Every series should be important when you’re playing for your country. But overlapping series? Like we had a Test series and one-day series going at the same time. To me, that’s just mad.Every series, every game that you play for your country, is as important as the other when you think about it. Obviously that’s not the real case because some series are bigger than others, i.e. the Ashes over playing New Zealand. But you still want to be playing because you’re playing for your country. Unfortunately because the way things are now, you’ve got to look at the schedule and go, where can I take a break, because I can’t keep doing this over and over again because I want to be playing for as long as I can.Is administration something you might consider at the end of your playing career, not the least because it needs people sympathetic to players?
No.Not at all?
You won’t see me there unless they change the dress code to “smart casual”.You don’t have to wear a suit if you don’t want to…
No, I can’t see myself doing that in the future. You never know, I might eat these words in a few years’ time. But honestly, no, I’ve got no aspiration to be doing that.
