Ben Stokes, the England Test captain, has revealed that he gave up on drinking alcohol this past January, to help himself in terms of recovering from a hamstring injury.
The 33-year-old had undergone surgery on his left hamstring last December after tearing it up on the tour to New Zealand, and since then, he has worked extremely hard in rehabilitation, to make himself available for selection for the first Test of the English summer.
Notably, as per the report from BBC Sport, Ben Stokes was ruled out initially for three months from professional cricket last winter, but he hasn’t played for Durham in the County Championship thus far this season. Despite that, he is set to captain England in their one-off four-day Test match against Zimbabwe at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham, a contest which will begin on Thursday, May 22.
Ben Stokes confirmed his intention to not give up alcohol entirely
While speaking on the Untapped podcast with Spencer Matthews, Ben Stokes alluded to how he changed the process around rehabilitation this time around, including the decision to abstain from alcohol. He was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, ‘After my first major injury, I remember the shock of it and after the initial adrenaline had stopped I was thinking, ‘How has this happened?”
‘[I thought] ‘We did have a bit of a drink four or five nights ago, could that have played a part?’ It wouldn’t have helped. Then I was like ‘OK, I need to start changing what I do’. Then I was like ‘OK, I need to start changing what I do’,’ he added. With that, Ben Stokes ended up stating that he hasn’t had any alcohol since the start of January this year, but at this same time, he also confirmed his intention to not give it up in its entirety.
It was in 2018 when Ben Stokes wasn’t found guilty of affray after getting involved in a fight outside a Bristol nightclub, and at the same time, he told the judge about not being drunk under the circumstances despite being drinking at the time.