After returning from Pakistan, where England lost 2-1Stokes announced on social media that a gang had broken into his house during the second Test while Clare and her two children were at home. A 32 year old man has now arrested.
Asked if he was thinking about leaving the tour, Stokes replied: “I actually did. It was my wife who told me not to do it. I always tell the boys that things like this come first. I asked my wife and she insisted that I had to stay out of there.
On the field, Stokes experienced one of his “toughest” outings in Pakistan. The all-rounder, recovering from a hamstring injury, missed the first Test and then struggled in the last two.
He apologized to the team after showing his frustration over lost catches in the second Test and bizarrely did not play a shot in the second innings of the third. Afterwards, McCullum said England needed to “put our arms around Stokes”.
“I focused so much on myself over a long period of time trying to recover from an injury that I actually exhausted and ruined myself physically,” Stokes said. “It definitely had a mental impact on me.
“I realized that I could never put myself in that area again because it not only affected myself but also the team.”
“There is no doubt that my frustration showed when things didn't go the way we wanted. Everyone around you is kind of walking on eggshells because they feel it.”
The captain said he had “cleared the air” with his players when they arrived in Queenstown last week to prepare for this series.
Stokes traveled to New Zealand ahead of the England team to surprise members of his family who live in Christchurch.
Stokes was born here in 1991 before moving to Wellington aged 10 and then to Cumbria aged 12 when his father Ged got a job as a rugby league coach. Ged died in 2020, but Stokes' mother Deb and brother James remain in Christchurch.
“This tour is more than just cricket for me,” said Stokes. “It's a chance to meet the family I don't see. You know, pretty much the entire Stokes family is in Christchurch.”
