“I always knew that at some point, I would have to choose one of the white-ball formats to continue with but I didn't know which one. After the first ODI it hit me in the face and I spoke to Jos. When I went away and had five minutes to myself, I told him I felt just a bit useless. It wasn't a nice feeling.” Ben Stokes, speaking to Sky Sports.
No matter the result, no matter how play unfolded, the first ODI between England and South Africa was always going to be about Ben Stokes. His announcement the previous day that he was retiring from the format guaranteed it and, with the matched staged at his home ground at Chester-le-Street, it was a rare opportunity for a player to bow out in the perfect location.
There have been a mix of reactions to Stokes’ decision.
On one hand it’s hardly the first time a player has retired from one format to concentrate on one or two others, fatigued by an ever-swelling schedule. Quinton de Kock is a more typical case in the modern era, stepping away from Test cricket but still representing South Africa in white-ball formats.
And Stokes himself has cited the examples of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad extending their international careers by eschewing limited overs matches in favour of playing Tests.
But the retirement of Stokes feels particularly weighty, at home at least, partly because of his central place in England’s ODI revolution that began in 2016, partly because of his World Cup Final heroics that immediately became legend, and partly because it comes in the middle of a ridiculously crammed summer where the schedule is bursting at the seams and at a time when franchise T20 leagues (and The Hundred) are encroaching further on Test cricket’s diminishing windows.
It might also be because Stokes is a genuine box office superstar player, the first to cut through to the wider English public since cricket moved behind a paywall after the 2005 Ashes — largely because of that 2019 World Cup Final.
So, as the crowd stood in the packed stands on possibly the hottest day Chester-le-Street has experienced and warmly applauded Ben Stokes as led England’s One-Day team onto the field for the final time, it was clear that, even if his contribution to the match was minimal, this would be Stokes’ day.
“This England shirt deserves 100 per cent from whoever wears it and I didn't like the feeling of not being able to contribute in the way I wanted. And the feeling of stopping someone else progressing in this format for England. When I thought long and hard and realised I couldn't do that in all three formats... it was made easy knowing that I can't go out there and give my all.”
Stokes clearly wants to give his all but he’s obviously favouring his niggly left knee.
You can see it in the first over, when Janneman Malan punches the ball through the covers and Stokes gives chase, saving the boundary.
You can see it in the final over, when David Miller creams Brydon Carse straight down the ground and this time Stokes can’t save it. He’s still giving his all as he sprints across from long-on and throws his body to the ground in a desperate attempt to prevent the extra runs. He stays prone for a few moments, sprawled face-down in the Riverside turf.
And you can see it most clearly when he bowls his first spell of three overs and his second spell of two; both heart and mind are willing but the body, while by no means weak, is nowhere near the 100 per cent for which he strives as he not-quite-hobbles back to his mark.
For the first four balls of his third over, Stokes is hit through the covers. His fifth delivery is the effort ball that seemingly comes out of nowhere but has served him well throughout his 105-match career, banged hard into the pitch and surprising the batter.
Malan comes down the pitch to attack and is indeed surprised as the ball rears suddenly and smashes his arm hard enough to rattle him and require treatment for several minutes; it’s the only time during his typically calm and measured innings that Malan looks uncomfortable.
Stokes immediately sets the field for another short ball, bring the fielder at deep third up and sending midwicket to the join two other fielders in the deep on the leg side.
It’s a bluff; he bowls a leg cutter that strikes Malan on the pads but the appeal is hardly full-blooded. There will be no wicket-celebration to lift the melting spectators and Stokes will eventually finish with figures of 0 for 44 off five overs.
"You always want to be contributing to your team and need to be on it, 100 per cent of the time.”
Stokes’ contributions through the conventional disciplines of batting, bowling and fielding have grabbed headlines over the years but in this game it’s the way he guides and supports the less experienced bowlers that stands out.
With Jos Buttler captaining from behind the stumps, and no Eoin Morgan to offer calm words of encouragement, Stokes walks over from mid-off in between balls to chat to England’s opening bowlers, Sam Curran and Matthew Potts.
In the seventh over Sam Curran has bowled two dot balls, the second a cutter that grips the pitch and beats the bat as de Kock swipes across the line.
There’s a slightly longer chat between Stokes and Curran, accompanied by several hand gestures.
Curran runs in and angles in another cutter with a slight change of pace and the ball grips once more as de Kock swipes and misses again; this time his stumps are shattered.
With Buttler keeping wicket, other senior quicks injured and both Stokes and Morgan gone, this is another adjustment England will have to make.
"We’re not cars where you can just fill up with petrol or diesel and then let us go. I'm not sure if it's going wrong. Maybe just sit back and understand... don't expect everyone is going to turn out every single time. Teams are looking at their squads and players and asking when they can give them a break. If you want the best product, you want the best players out there giving it their all.”
Stokes walks out to another standing ovation. England are 2 for 125 after a solid opening partnership from Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy.
The run rate is creeping up, though, and the target of 334 is imposing. That sort of target hadn’t bothered England during their dominance at home since 2016 but it feels they have perhaps lost the invincible aura they have worn so comfortably.
Still, Stokes and Root are at the crease and this is Stokes’ last game and he is English cricket’s Moses, the man who can part the seas and leave a clear path to victory on the biggest of stages.
He punches the ball off the back foot down to long-on for a single and he is on his way.
But the hope for a romantic swan song is snuffed out all too soon when, on 5, he attempts to reverse-sweep Aiden Markram but is rapped on the front pad.
The air, already thick and stifling with the strange heat, is sucked out of the ground. There is a brief discussion between Root and Stokes but it is pointless; Stokes knows he is out.
As he walks back to the dressing room the crowd rises once more. This is not how they want it to end but it is all-too-often how it does end; an anti-climax finale to a career that has brought the most heart-stopping crescendos seen in fifty-over cricket.
Stokes keeps his composure as he walks through the crowd but just before he reaches the dressing room he lets out an expletive; he wanted the fairytale, as much for his team as for himself. In fact, he probably wanted it more for his team.
South Africa made the most of winning the toss on a day England was blanketed by suffocating heat. Rassie van der Dussen made a brilliant 134 off 117, while Malan’s 57 and Markram’s 77 should also be admired.
Their bowlers then kept the pressure on a clearly weary England, Anrich Nortje finishing with 4 for 53. They look fresh and hungry compared to an English side buckling in the face of an unrelenting schedule that is at least partly responsible for Stokes' retirement from ODIs at the age of 31.
South Africa’s brilliance should not be overlooked or diminished; they have started their tour of England with intensity and focus and their 62-run victory was emphatic.
And yet, this day was always going to be about Stokes; World Cup hero, miracle-working firebrand and, of course, one of Durham’s own.
“It's amazing. You look at things like this and it's almost meant to be. I've only played two games here for England so it's a special feeling. When I spoke to Jos and Motty and asked if they wouldn't mind, they were amazing and just said 'absolutely'. What an amazing day to have. Durham gave me my first opportunity. Without Durham, I wouldn't be sat here talking to you now."
