Ben Stokes: England Test captain feared he'd never play again during mental health issues

The 31-year-old suffered from panic attacks after suppressing his emotions for several years.
"It was like having a glass bottle that I kept throwing my emotions into. Eventually it became too full and just exploded,” Stokes told BBC Breakfast. first on compassionate leave from cricket in 2020 to be with his father Ged, who died later that year of brain cancer.
He then broke a finger on his return to sport and eventually rushed to make a return to the England captain's limited squads after a Covid outbreak forced them to pick a whole new team in July 2021.
After that series against Pakistan, Stokes took an indefinite hiatus, returning f or the Ashes to Australia in December 2021, and was named Test Captain in April this year.
In a wide-ranging interview, Stokes discussed:
The long-term impact of the 2017 Bristol incident that led to him being charged with a fightThe death of his father, which had a huge impact on his careerChanging the conversation around mental health breaksStokes was speaking ahead of his documentary - Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes - streaming on Amazon Prime from August 26th.
"I'd give this great Northern boy bravado hard"
In the documentary, Stokes talks openly about his struggles and says he wants to help change the narrative around the breaks for mental health.
"I did an interview where I exuded this bravado of being a big northern badass with ta too. I was like 'well, I'm tough, but that doesn't mean I can't struggle mentally,'" he told the BBC.
"One of the most powerful things about this I noticed in the movie was when [English pitcher] Stuart Broad said he could see me not playing anymore.
"I had never told Stuart about it for my absence. I spoke to him a lot during this period, but just general comments- chat, nothing too serious.
"I had never said the words to him but the fact that he understood that the feeling opened my eyes that at that moment things were going rather badly."
Stokes said he was "annoyed" that negative connotations were drawn around his break when he was n was named test captain earlier this year.
"It was like people were saying I couldn't not do the work because I decided to take a break last year," he said.
"I was like, 'what does that have to do with being England captain'? On the contrary, it shows that you can do anything, even if you have decided to take a break."
"Such a great inspiration for me had left the world"
Stok...

Sports Aug 23, 2022 0 39 Add to Reading List

Ben Stokes: England Test captain feared he'd never play again during mental health issues

The 31-year-old suffered from panic attacks after suppressing his emotions for several years.

"It was like having a glass bottle that I kept throwing my emotions into. Eventually it became too full and just exploded,” Stokes told BBC Breakfast. first on compassionate leave from cricket in 2020 to be with his father Ged, who died later that year of brain cancer.

He then broke a finger on his return to sport and eventually rushed to make a return to the England captain's limited squads after a Covid outbreak forced them to pick a whole new team in July 2021.

After that series against Pakistan, Stokes took an indefinite hiatus, returning f or the Ashes to Australia in December 2021, and was named Test Captain in April this year.

In a wide-ranging interview, Stokes discussed:

The long-term impact of the 2017 Bristol incident that led to him being charged with a fightThe death of his father, which had a huge impact on his careerChanging the conversation around mental health breaksStokes was speaking ahead of his documentary - Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes - streaming on Amazon Prime from August 26th.

"I'd give this great Northern boy bravado hard"

In the documentary, Stokes talks openly about his struggles and says he wants to help change the narrative around the breaks for mental health.

"I did an interview where I exuded this bravado of being a big northern badass with ta too. I was like 'well, I'm tough, but that doesn't mean I can't struggle mentally,'" he told the BBC.

"One of the most powerful things about this I noticed in the movie was when [English pitcher] Stuart Broad said he could see me not playing anymore.

"I had never told Stuart about it for my absence. I spoke to him a lot during this period, but just general comments- chat, nothing too serious.

"I had never said the words to him but the fact that he understood that the feeling opened my eyes that at that moment things were going rather badly."

Stokes said he was "annoyed" that negative connotations were drawn around his break when he was n was named test captain earlier this year.

"It was like people were saying I couldn't not do the work because I decided to take a break last year," he said.

"I was like, 'what does that have to do with being England captain'? On the contrary, it shows that you can do anything, even if you have decided to take a break."

"Such a great inspiration for me had left the world"

Stok...