England Test captain Ben Stokes has admitted not seeing his dad before his death in December 2020 due to his IPL commitments made him ‘hate cricket’. Stokes lost his dad Gerard aged 65 to brain cancer just under two years ago, after being diagnosed 11 months prior.
At the time, the England star was leaving New Zealand after a winter Test series with his national team to begin his IPL campaign with Rajasthan Royals. Stokes’ cricketing commitments around the world made it hard for him to visit father in his final months.
As a result, the all-rounder has now opened up on the tough period in an interview with the Telegraph . He said: “The last time I saw Dad was leaving New Zealand to go to the Indian Premier League – that was dictated by cricket.
“He wanted me to go, he really loved me playing for Rajasthan Royals and the people there. But it made me hate cricket, I thought it was the reason I didn’t see my dad before he died. I should have opened up about it sooner.
I just thought ‘cricket, cricket, cricket’. It’s not a regret… but I’d do things differently… So I had a real thing with cricket at the time I took a break. I was really angry at the sport because it was dictating when I could see my dad.”
As mentioned by Stokes, the England skipper took a break from the game in the summer of 2021 to look after his mental wellbeing. Speaking bravely about the struggles that led to his nearly calling time on his playing career, he commented: “For a long period of time, not just a couple of weeks, or a couple of months, but I’d say for a few years, I was just putting everything emotionally into a glass bottle.
“And when something else would happen, I’d just keep filling that bottle. Eventually, the next thing that went in was going to make that glass explode. That’s what happened. It’s just a culmination of stuff over a long, long period of time.”
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A year on, Stokes is now leading English Test cricket into a new dawn under newly appointed coach Brendon McCullum, and following his struggles has opened up on how it is important to speak out on mental health problems.
“I find sometimes people are a bit nervous to go into the details about that kind of stuff with me,” he said.
“It’s perceived you can’t feel a certain way – that’s a sign of weakness to show that you are not mentally feeling great. People think they can’t ask people who have struggled. No. It’s fine. I’ll happily tell you as much as I possibly can.”
