Ben Stokes’ 11th Test century of his career was perhaps his sweetest, the all-rounder said on Thursday after robbing West Indies and helping England to a commanding position in the second Test in Barbados.
Stokes took 114 balls to reach his century, before removing his helmet, raising his eyes to the sky and giving a crooked finger salute as the English crowd at large rose to their feet in applause.
Read also: Stokes century underlines England’s dominance
He amputated the middle finger of his left hand to pay tribute to his late father, Gade, whose only finger was amputated following several dislocations during his career as a New Zealand rugby international.
Gade died of brain cancer in September, 2020 and Ben later took a mental health break from cricket last year while recovering from a broken finger, the loss of his father as well as a COVID-19 The demands to be in the “bubble” also took off. their toll.
“Playing in a team sport, you never like to think selfishly, but out of the hundreds that I have personally, perhaps one of the most memorable is the one that went on for the past 18 months, a few years. Stokes said.
He was speaking after 120 runs that cemented England’s dominance at the Kensington Oval.
There are few batsmen capable of separating the bowling attack better than Stokes, who after a careful start scored nearly two runs on his way to his third fastest Test century.
He hit six sixes before being dismissed at long-off.
“We have a very long batting line-up and once I came in, I tried to capitalize on the opportunity to score so many runs on the board,” Stokes said.
“You’re not always going to be in such a lucky position, good wicket, lots of runs on the board, trying to score as many runs as possible.”
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