Botham was unstoppable at 24. He had scored six Test hundreds (Stokes has three), taken 153 wickets (Stokes 47) and was made captain of England. Stokes has some way to go before he matches Botham’s deeds but he already has the same air of invincibility when in full flow.
Ben Stokes celebrates scoring a double century against South Africa Photo: REUTERS
“I was captain at 24. Against West Indies. That was fun. As a player he’s probably better than I was at 24, I don’t know. He’d certainly be up there,” said Botham. “The problem is, he’s got a lot of very good players around him so it’s not quite so easy to take the mantle. I have been a massive fan of Ben Stokes since I first saw him on the international scene, I think he has got tremendous, enormous potential to go all the way. His bowling can only get better, he has got all the attributes, he has got pace, he can swing the ball, he can reverse it, he can bowl orthodox, he is terrific fielder, close to the bat, in the covers or mid-wicket, backward point, on the boundary. He is not a jack of all trades and master of none, he is actually probably master of the three most important assets you need and that’s batting, bowling and fielding.”
Botham can speak with authority about what it is like to be a 24 year-old with the world at your feet and he says Stokes will feel he is England’s alpha male following his record breaking double hundred.
“He will feel untouchable. He will feel his game is right up there; his confidence will be oozing and that will be good for the team as it will ooze onto the team and they will all pick up on that. It’s a little bit like being in the jungle – the dominant male lion: the rest feed off it. That’s how he’ll be. He’ll be the dominant male in that side for a few years to come.”
Ian Botham knows what it's like to burst onto the scene at a young age
Stokes is a future England captain according to Trevor Bayliss but at the moment has the luxury of simply concentrating on playing cricket. as Botham says, life at this age is simple.
“It was fun. And Ben Stokes will be enjoying it as well. He’ll see it as fun as well. You walk out and you empty the bars rather then fill them and it’s a nice feeling. Then you get out and you see them all going back in for a beer and you think ‘sorry, lads: can’t do it every day.’ And he can’t do it every day, either. That’s what people have to remember. You have to give him the right to fail.”
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Botham is fond of Stokes. There is the Durham link of course but he also sees himself in the young allrounder who plays cricket the same aggressive way and does not try and complicate the game.
He has thrived under Bayliss and assistant coach Paul Farbrace, and Botham hopes he is left alone to develop his own way over the next few years.
Trevor Bayliss sees Stokes as a future England captain Photo: Getty
“Let him go. Mike Brearley did absolutely the same with me. There was no leash in any way,” he said. “I didn’t think too much to be honest with you. There is too much thinking about the game, too much analysis, looking at computers. I don’t need to look at a computer to know I’ve played a shit shot. It’s not that hard.”
Stokes’s double hundred was breathtaking and even an old pro like Botham stood back and enjoyed the spectacle as South African bowlers were battered around Newlands.
“That was one of those moments when you can just say I was there and I saw it,” he said. “It’s quite remarkable when you think back to Headingley ’81, I know there was only about 10,000 people in the ground but I have met three and a half million who were there but I was there for Ben Stokes.”
Botham is backing Stokes to keep his feet on the ground
What about handling the fame? Botham is probably still Britain’s most well known living cricketer but Stokes’s star is in the ascendancy and a rapid exposure to fame can have its dangers .
“It will change his life. I don’t think it will affect Ben that much. They’re protected a lot more now than we were. We were left and pretty much thrown to the wolves. Nowadays there is not a word said without someone sitting on his wing, being briefed. It’s a different world, I think sportsmen now in general all become a little singular. It’s all very much what you expect them to say. I think Ben Stokes will probably say what he actually thinks.”
Kumala Wines were proud supporters of ‘Beefy Walking The Rainbow Nation’. For more information visit kumalawines.com.
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