- Captain was pacing dressing room during Headingley finale
- ‘We can be better,’ insists Stokes with hosts 2-1 down in Ashes
Across the four days of the third Ashes Test, Ben Stokes endured physical pain and crippling pressure without taking a backwards step, but the stress of watching his side’s torturous run chase proved too much even for him. England eventually beat Australia by three wickets to keep the series alive, though their captain entirely missed seeing Chris Woakes score the winning runs while he engaged in furious stress-marching around the dressing room.
“I’m not going to lie, I was a bit nervous at the end,” Stokes said. “I walked about two kilometres around the Headingley dressing room in the last half-hour. I didn’t actually watch the last 20 runs being scored. It’s completely different when you can’t do anything, you can’t influence the game any more, and you’re left watching and hoping things are going to go your way.”
Written by Simon Burnton at Headingley
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jul/09/ben-stokes-admits-he-could-not-watch-englands-narrow-win-against-australia under the title “Ben Stokes admits he ‘could not watch’ England’s narrow win against Australia”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
