Ben Stokes opens up on the feud with Marlon Samuels and his fiery personality

Ben Stokes is a rare breed of cricketer in the modern game. At a time when his contemporaries prefer to mask their emotions, the 24-year old is exactly the opposite – bold and unflinching.

Speaking to The Guardian, the all-rounder gave an insight into the recurring spat with West Indian batsman Marlon Samuels and revealed that he does not plan to change his instinctive demeanor.

Upon winning the Player of the Match award in the World T20 final, Samuels had called Stokes ‘a nervous laddie who doesn’t learn’. Understandably infuriated, the England player did not mince any words in expressing his thoughts.

The seamer professed, “It started off on a Lions tour and it’s just been a feud that’s carried on and carried on. It’s been a good one because it’s caught people’s imaginations. It’s a shame after the final where he played a really good innings, that there wasn’t a chance for him to stay around and shake my hand. But, that was his decision. He won’t be on my Christmas card list.”

As the conversation inevitably veered towards the game-changing final over, Stokes reflected, “The first ball was crap. I just didn’t execute it like I wanted to. The second and third ball, I was just trying to bowl yorkers. Well, obviously I did blow it.”

Lambasting critics for questioning his approach, he admonished, “People say, why didn’t you bowl yorkers? And I’m like, ‘Well, I was f***ing trying to bowl f***ing yorkers, you d***heads‘, I just didn’t execute it.”

Where does his passion stem from?

When asked about the locker room incident which gave him a major injury scare, Stokes affirmed, “I wasn’t planning on walking up the stairs and doing that. All the emotions and frustrations of that tour just got the better of me. I felt in good form, but couldn’t get a run out in the middle.”

He added, “When you’re not scoring runs and you’re frustrated, you don’t think about things like that. I didn’t feel it for 10 minutes, because of the adrenaline. Then I was like, well, I’ll be all right, get some tape, wrap it around it.”

However, Stokes reiterated that only sportsmen could relate to the rush of adrenaline during certain moments. The aggressive cricketer asserted, “Well, people say that was daft. But you know, people who say it’s daft wouldn’t have played at the level we were playing at and they wouldn’t understand the feelings of frustration I had at the time that were boiling up inside me.”

While admitting that the whole episode was embarrassing, Stokes quipped that he would like to continue to wear his heart on his sleeve. He explained, “I’ll never lose my passion. The day I do is the day I should retire.”

Ben attributed his brazen-faced thinking to a family trait. He elaborated, “My dad’s a bit more moody and my brother’s a bit of a gorm when he’s around people. He doesn’t know. He grunts a lot. That competitiveness which sometimes turns into frustration and an inside buildup of anger is what my old man has and what I’ve obviously got. I’ve got a lot of traits from my dad’s side.”

Stokes junior also shared an interesting anecdote about his father’s rugby career. The right-hander divulged, “He kept dislocating the same finger. So, he went to the doctor who told him it needed surgery. But, he couldn’t afford not to play. He needed to pay the bills, so he just got it cut off.”

Becoming a father when he was just 21, Stokes conceded that the responsibility changed his mindset. Perhaps, he does not need to look too far and can draw upon the childhood experiences with his dad.