London: Ben Stokes took a five-month break from cricket in 2021 as he prioritized his mental health and wellbeing. The 31-year-old admitted to suffering panic attacks.
“It was like I had a glass bottle I kept on throwing my emotions into. Eventually, it got too full and just exploded,” the now England captain told BBC Breakfast.
The last two years have been challenging for the all-rounder. In 2020, he took a compassionate leave to be with his father in New Zealand who died of brain cancer.
Upon return, he broke a finger and then rushed his comeback to lead the England side in the limited overs in July 2021.
Following that series against Pakistan, Stokes took an indefinite break and returned for the Ashes in Australia in December 2021. After a drubbing, he was named Test captain in April.
Stokes expressed annoyance with the negative connotations drawn around his mental health break when he took up the leadership duty.
“It felt like people were saying I couldn’t do the job because I decided to take a break last year,” he said.
“I was like, ‘what’s that got to do with being England captain’? If anything, it shows that you can do anything, even if you have decided to take a break.”
He also talked about the nightclub incident in Bristol in 2017. At a nightclub, Stokes had reportedly “stepped in” to defend two gay men who were being verbally abused. After a six-day trial, Stokes was found not guilty of affray in 2018.
“That Bristol incident will still have an effect on my life and on our lives in the future. Just an example – we’re going to have to sit our kids down one day and explain what that was all about.
“As they get older, no doubt people will ask them about it and we don’t want them to be in the dark about that and then to come home and ask about it.”
Stokes was speaking ahead of the release of his documentary – Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes – which airs on Amazon Prime on 26 August.
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