WI vs ENG | 2nd Test | Ben Stokes pays emotional tribute to late father after scoring a sublime century

England all-rounder Ben Stokes struck a breath-taking century on the second day of the ongoing Test against West Indies in Barbados. Stokes hammered his way through to a splendid knock of 120 runs off just 128 balls and his nonchalant innings helped England post a mammoth total of 507 runs in their first innings. 

The last couple of years haven’t been kind to Ben Stokes as he lost his father Ged Stokes to brain cancer in 2020 and was kept out of the game for some time owing to a finger injury in 2021. He further took an indefinite break from cricket due to his deteriorating mental health and finally made his comeback in the Ashes down under, in which his numbers were not up to the mark. 

The series against the West Indies was a golden opportunity for him to awaken his inner beast and finally, he did exactly that yesterday by hitting a marvellous hundred and thus playing a key role in placing England in the driver’s seat. 

This was Stokes’ 11th Test hundred and after reaching this milestone, the southpaw was seen to be a little bit emotional. He looked up to the sky and gave a crooked finger salute to his late father, who had the same finger dismembered during his career as an international rugby player for New Zealand.

On being asked how he felt after playing such a dominant knock after a while Stokes said that it was a memorable feeling for him and this knock was a perfect tribute to his father on his behalf. 

“It’s a very special feeling. I don’t like to speak selfishly but it was nice out there to look up to the sky and say ‘cheers,” Stokes said. “Of the hundreds I’ve got, that’s personally one of the more memorable ones because of everything that’s gone on over the last 18 months or two years. It was great. In India last year I got 99 and it was a bit of a dagger in the heart, so, it was nice to get there and remember him that way,” he further added.  

Stokes also became the fifth player in Test history to notch up at-least 5000 runs and 150 wickets, joining the likes of Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Jacques Kallis.