Ben Stokes quits alcohol to assist hamstring harm rehabilitation

Ben Stokes has stopped consuming alcohol all through his newest harm rehabilitation to be able to be firing on all cylinders for England this summer time. The Test captain is ready to make his comeback on Thursday within the one-off Test in opposition to Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, having been sidelined since December after tearing his left hamstring in New Zealand.

He rushed again from a an identical harm ultimate 12 months however his restoration this time after an operation has been painstakingly controlled and Stokes has left no stone unturned to fulfil his vow to go back in height bodily situation. Speaking to the Untapped podcast, the 33-year-old mentioned: “After my first major injury, I remember the shock of it, after the initial adrenaline had stopped, thinking: ‘How has this happened? 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.’ I don’t think I’ll ever be completely sober but I’ve not had a drink since 2 January. I said to myself: ‘Not until I finish my injury rehab and get back on the field.’ I think the day I wake up and can’t be bothered to do the training programme is getting towards that time you don’t really want it any more. But I haven’t got any interest in stopping.

“It’s just getting harder to do everything. Hence why now I feel like I have to work so much harder away from the field, in the gym and all that kind of stuff to just give me the best chance of being out there to perform. But I’ll keep going as long as I possibly can.”

Stokes, who’s hoping to play a complete function as an all-rounder in opposition to Zimbabwe, printed his dating with alcohol is far modified when compared with when he used to be more youthful. A speaking level in Stokes’s much-publicised courtroom case, the place he used to be discovered no longer in charge of affray, used to be on how a lot he had fed on all through an evening out in Bristol that led to a side road brawl in 2017.

Cricket and alcohol were – once in a while uncomfortable – bedfellows at each and every degree traditionally however Stokes mentioned he and plenty of others have needed to adapt to the expanding requirements within the skilled sport. Stokes mentioned: “I can have a social drink now. It used to drive my wife, Clare, mad that I would just be all or nothing. If we’d go for a nice dinner, I never really understood why it was so frustrating to her but all she wanted to do is share a glass of wine with her husband. Now I get it. I can appreciate it for what it is, not just to get me pissed.

“In the 90s and 00s there were unbelievable stories [about drinking]. It’s definitely settled down a lot over the years. The game is more demanding on the body than it was. There’s so much more cricket, there’s so much more in the schedule that it’s just impossible for the body to be able to withstand all of that anyway without the downsides of what a couple of beers at the end of the day can do to you for the next day.”