Cricket hero Ben Stokes today admitted he has only just sobered up after winning the World Cup for England as he paid tribute to his wife for standing by him through the traumatic court battle that nearly ended his career.
Only 18 months ago, the 28-year-old all-rounder was staring down the barrel of a prison sentence for his part in a late-night brawl outside a nightclub in Bristol in September 2017.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain today, he thanked his wife Clare Ratcliffe for helping him through the ‘stressful’ period and putting him on the path to international sporting glory, saying, ‘I couldn’t have done it myself’.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain today, Ben Stokes thanked his wife Clare Ratcliffe for helping him get back on form and said, ‘I couldn’t have done it myself’
Stokes married ms Ratcliffe in October 2017, just weeks after the fight which saw him charged with affray – although he was later cleared
Stokes shares two children with the primary school teacher, Layton, four, and two-year-old Libby.
He admitted they had no idea what the win meant to him but his wife had been a’nervous wreck’.
But he insisted life would go on as normal, adding: ‘I’ll be straight back doing the school run.’
They married in October 2017, just weeks after the fight which saw him charged with affray – although he was later cleared.
‘Coming back from all of that was tough, it was a very stressful time for me, my wife, and my family back home,’ Stokes said today.
‘I had amazing people around me, and they’ve got to take a lot of credit for helping me get through that.
‘But to be able to say that I got through the hardest period of my life is amazing, but I couldn’t have done it myself.’
The England side celebrated wildly in the Lord’s pavilion immediately after their victory, before enjoying a night out in central London.
Speaking to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on GMB, Stokes admitted the celebrations had taken their toll.
‘I’ve only just sobered up’, he quipped.
Referring again to his come-back from a bitter court battle, Stokes agreed that ‘the hard times made winning better’ but denied feeling a sense of ‘redemption’.
‘I was very emotional at the end, that was partly the happiness but also thinking back all I went through – it was an amazing feeling,’ he said.
‘But I think [redemption] is a word that everyone in the media loves using. But I’m an athlete, I’m a cricketer, I did what I was paid to do, which is win trophies.’
He also scoffed at reports he is set to receive a knighthood – after the calls were backed by Tory leadership contenders Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt – insisting ‘there are other people who deserve it more’.
Stokes and Ms Ratcliffe arriving at Bristol Crown Court on August 14, 2018
He was similarly grounded when referring to the upcoming Ashes series, insisting the summer was ‘only half done’.
Stokes was the driving force behind England’s historic victory, which came following a Super Over in one of the most intense finals the sport has ever seen.
The star top-scored in the thrilling final with 84 not out.
His crucial runs in the last over, including some overthrows luckily deflected off his bat, saw England reach the Super Over – which sees the team that scores the most runs over six balls win the game.
During the tense final stages, Stokes he batted with Jos Buttler to see Eoin Morgan’s men win in incredible fashion and kick off scenes of mass jubilation up and down the country.
Discussing what it felt like to score one run on the final ball when two would have won the match, he said: ‘I thought we’d thrown it away.
‘I had to go into the shower room to give myself five minutes before going back out for the Super Over.
‘I’d never been in one before and don’t want to be again.’
Stokes partnered with Jos Buttler to score 15 on the Super Over, leaving New Zealand needing 16 to win.
Jofra Archer stepped up to bowl, before starting with a wide and getting hit for six.
‘I actually laughed, it summed up the game that that would have to happen,’ Stokes said. ‘I still backed him.
‘I went up to him before and said whatever happens here wasn’t going to define your career – I was coming from the point of view that if things didn’t go well.
‘For a 24-year-old kid to come in and do that in his first summer in an England shirt was amazing.’
Police body camera footage of Stokes when he was arrested during the incident on September 25, 2017
Describing what it was like to hold the World Cup, Stokes quipped, ‘It was heavy’. He is pictured in the England changing room at Lord’s after their win on Sunday
Referring to the moment he knew England had one, Stokes said: ‘I just broke down and star-fished on the floor. I had Mark Wood’s glasses on and broke them.
‘It was pandemonium, I can’t really remember what was happened.’
Stokes also used the GMB interview to thank his father, Gerard, who first took his family to England as a rugby league international.
He broke his finger but insisted on playing for the rest of the season to earn enough money for his family – before eventually having to get it amputated.
Stokes recalled: ‘Dad said to the doctor, I can’t afford to not play so can you just cut it off, so that I can keep playing.’
He said of his parents: ‘They ride the wave with me as well.
‘Parents are always going to be there, they will stick with you through thick and thin but for them to have that moment I guess was a very special time for them… I don’t see them that often.’