The Cricketer's People of 2021: Ben Stokes

NICK HOWSON: Forget the World Cup final and Headingley in 2019, England's superstar allrounder made his most important contribution to sport yet by speaking openly about his mental health struggles

Home and away Tests against India. The IPL. The T20 World Cup. An away Ashes series. On the field, it should have been another defining year in the career of Ben Stokes.

And despite playing only 27 matches and signing off without any major silverware, his impact goes beyond even what he achieved in 2019.

In July, 12 months of bio-secure bubbles and the stresses caused by Covid-19 had finally taken its toll. The England and Wales Cricket Board have spoken at length about the physical and mental demands of the Covid-era, but their answer has been more matches, more rhetoric.

It needed their prized asset to withdraw himself from the firing line to reduce his schedule; a damning indictment of the ECB – the same governing body who allowed him to play the South Africa Boxing Day Test having missed training to be at the bedside of his father Ged, a decision Nasser Hussain said should have been taken away from him.

Had Stokes not broken a finger during Rajasthan Royals' opening IPL match, his calendar would have been even more intense. The injury eventually meant he missed the New Zealand Tests and the Sri Lanka white-ball matches.

A gesture of good will saw him return before time – he was still recovering from the broken finger – for six Blast group games amid a Covid outbreak at Durham, where only 11 players were available, and the second team were isolating.

An identical situation soon befell England men, forcing a new squad to be selected for the Pakistan ODIs, with Stokes installed as captain.

"After the call (from Chris Silverwood) happened my wife sent me a screenshot of an article saying: 'England aren't going to rush Ben Stokes back,'" he said.

"My job needed me to do something, so I had to stand up and do that, and it's the same with this. This is earlier than planned from a medical and fitness point of view but when a job comes and calls you, you need to stand up and make yourself available."

^{Stokes spoke out about his struggles with mental health (William West/AFP via Getty Images)}

This outlook defines Stokes as a sportsperson. Did England take advantage of that? Who knows.

At the end of that same month, it was revealed Stokes would withdraw from the India Test squad and take an indefinite break. He missed the four completed Tests, the IPL resumption, and the T20 World Cup.

"I had also been struggling with bubble life and events off the field," he wrote in The Mirror in October. "I don't want anyone to feel the way I did, because I wasn’t in a good place and I'm not afraid to admit it.

"I was in a real dark place and having some difficult thoughts. I was always one of those people who wouldn't talk about how they are feeling and just keep it internal and crack on. I now realise talking is such a powerful thing and it has completely changed me."

"This is about seeing the men and women that make up our elite athletes as people, with physical and mental health needs that deserve to be supported equally"

Stokes isn't just English cricket's hottest property, he's an elite figure in British sport. Lewis Hamilton, Raheem Sterling, Andy Murray, Rory McIlroy, Laura Kenny; Stokes is comfortably among them. He's asked for help, so it's time we listened.

"We should herald these past few months as a critical moment for mental health stigma in sport and applaud all those sportspeople, including Ben Stokes, who have been open and honest about their mental health," Hayley Jarvis, head of sport for mental health charity Mind, told The Cricketer.

"Every one of us has both mental health and physical health, both of which can fluctuate throughout our lives. One in four people will experience a mental health problem in any given year so it should come as no surprise then that sports professionals will experience mental health problems too."

^{When England lost their first-choice squad to Covid isolation, Stokes stepped in - coming back from injury early - to lead the ODI side (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

Cricket has become a safer space to share mental health struggles. The honesty of Marcus Trescothick, Jonathan Trott, Sarah Taylor, Andrew Flintoff and Glenn Maxwell has been inspiring. We've come a long way from Geoff Boycott describing Michael Yardy's exit from the 2011 World Cup as "obviously it was too much for him at this level".

But the process is ongoing. In January 2021, a British Medical Journal report into mental health and cricket included several recommendations, including:

- Normalising mental health symptoms and disorders

- Working with and helping vulnerable demographic segments within the target population

- Designing and implementing early recognition systems of mental health symptoms and disorders

- Addressing the mental health needs of cricketers on a population basis

It isn't that Stokes is the most important case of mental health. But he cuts through to the mainstream (and won BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2019). England might mostly exist behind the paywall, but he is enormously visible.

His accounts surfaced as mental health became a global topic of conversation. Tennis player Naomi Osaka, gymnast Simone Biles and footballer Christen Press have spoken with inspiring openness. Meghan Markle, Britney Spears and David Harewood are leading the way elsewhere. The stigma attached to these troubles is finally being challenged, and Stokes is part of that change.

"There is undoubtedly still a degree of stigma attached to mental health in sport," said Jarvis. "Research for our Performance Matters report in 2014 highlighted that many sportspeople felt they had to struggle in silence rather than reach out for support, for fear of the damage to their careers if they did.

^{The importance of Stokes' decision to step away from the game for a period cannot be underestimated (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)}

"Sports professionals are presented with a unique set of pressures in their jobs: from scoring points and winning trophies, to facing media scrutiny and meeting high expectations of fans.

"Sharing personal experiences of mental health problems can be overwhelming for anyone, let alone when you are already facing the pressures of being an elite sportsperson. That's why it's so important that when people like Ben Stokes do open up about their mental health, they are met with understanding and support."

In September 2019, an ECB release contain comments from chief executive Tom Harrison said "there is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to inspire future fans and players to grow the game" following the historic summer. "We can now capitalise on heightened interest and consideration of cricket," added the CEO.

Early evidence shows they haven't. In 2020, around 294,000 people were reported to have played cricket in England, an increase of 0.61 per cent from the previous year. They're down nearly a fifth from 2016.

But maybe Stokes has inspired people in different way. "Mind has found that when high profile people, including sportspeople, speak publicly about their own mental health problems, it can help inspire others to do the same," added Jarvis.

"We should herald these last few months as a critical moment for mental health stigma in sport and applaud all those sportspeople, including Ben Stokes, who have been open and honest about their mental health"

"Mind's research found that one in four people said hearing a celebrity talk openly about their own mental health had inspired them to get support. More than one in three people said that seeing stories about celebrities' mental health had prompted them to start a conversation with a friend or loved one about mental health.

"The power of celebrity can be a real force for change in how we all think and act about mental health problems."

If there is one thing we know about Stokes, it is that he is rarely satisfied. Perhaps, though, this is a moment he'll struggle to match. He's given the battle to accept, tackle and conquer mental health a major boost. It's now everyone's job to listen. Properly.

Jarvis ends: "This is about seeing the men and women that make up our elite athletes as people, with physical and mental health needs that deserve to be supported equally. Everyone within the elite sport sector should be working towards creating an environment where all sportspeople can fulfil their full potential and perform at their best."

If you're worried about yourself or someone else, Mind are here to support you: mind.org.uk

THE CRICKETER'S PEOPLE OF 2021 (links open in external window in app)

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Ian Watmore

Joe Root

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