When Ben Stokes, in the immediate aftermath of an agonising but thrilling defeat at Edgbaston, spoke of a mission to inspire youngsters to take up the game of cricket, no-one doubted his sincerity. It is a familiar theme of his.
After the 2019 World Cup win, he said: “I hope we have inspired kids who want to be part of what we have just been part of.”
Which is great. But all that needs to happen now is for parents to make some inspired choices of lottery numbers so that they can send those kids to a posh school.
