Ben Stokes jokingly claimed to be English cricket’s John Terry because he was able to celebrate a major trophy win without playing a single minute in the final.
At least by being thousands of miles away from Chennai Super Kings’ IPL victory over the Gujarat Titans he didn’t go the full Terry and don a yellow shirt and join in as if he’d hit the winning runs himself. Stokes posted a photo of himself fully focused and watching the final on his phone on Monday, but the truth is that his mind has been on something else for quite some time now.
And while he is utterly hell bent on beating the Aussies this summer, he is also determined that success in the Ashes will not be the crowning glory for his team and their Test revolution. Rather than the end goal, it is a staging post on the way to something more fulfilling. Something bigger and something more satisfying.
