Ben Stokes on comeback from knee surgery: ‘I’ve done everything I needed to’،
The physique is still as lean as it has ever been. Tattoos now span a sleeker canvas. The cheekbones stick out a little more. Only the beard seems weighed down by extra weight. Dust off the memes: Ben Stokes looks more like Vincent van Gogh than ever.
A cricketer's appearance rarely, if ever, warrants analysis. But looking like you've gone from heavyweight to middleweight in just over 50 days after serious knee surgery is worth thinking about.
And besides, it was a serious knee operation. For so long, Stokes had kept the condition of his left knee as calm as possible while his labored movements and inability to perform his bowling duties as an all-rounder screamed the truth with every grimace. This involved downplaying the surgery ultimately administered by specialist Dr Andy Williams at the private Cromwell Hospital, in south-west London, in late November.
“It was also a little more than just 'evacuation,'” Stokes revealed Tuesday afternoon in Hyderabad, having relied on that description in the months leading up to the procedure. A bone spur was removed, while the meniscus was reinforced with stitches.
The reluctance to go under the knife came from an honest place. A sense of duty to England and, ultimately, apprehension. “Surgery is always the last option,” he said. “Surgeries can go very well, but they can also sometimes not go very well, and set people back even further, or even end their careers.”
It was fear that motivated Stokes to strip down to a physique that head coach Brendon McCullum compared to a greyhound earlier this week. Once England's ODI World Cup ended prematurely in the group stages, Stokes began a pre-surgery routine to lose mass. “Because obviously the less weight you carry, the less weight you have on your knee and, in fact, the quicker your recovery,” he explained. An England spokesperson said Stokes had lost 8-10kg. This was made easier by lifestyle changes, such as cutting down on alcohol, and many challenges.
The logic proved valid. After the operation, what started as weekly assessments with ECB medical staff turned into appointments every two or three days, given the speed of his recovery.
Days spent at the gym over Christmas and New Year were as much about getting the knee back up to speed as they were about “fixing” kinks in the rest of the body, which had previously been overworked by overcompensation of the dodgy joint. It all came together perfectly at the two-week training camp in the UAE before landing in India.
“Once we got to Abu Dhabi, it was a good time to push a little bit and start pushing myself,” Stokes said. “Seeing how I reacted, how I woke up each day, how I got through long, difficult sessions, three or four different things throughout the day.”
There were also frustrating moments, especially when it came to cricket. The adjustments he made over the past two years to cover his knee when batting, for example, had to be undone in the nets and during sessions in the middle.
“Unconsciously, I was kind of doing what I was doing before I had him [the operation] just because it's almost like muscle memory maybe doesn't allow you to access certain positions. But the more I hit, the more I found, in fact, it's a lot more comfortable now. I can do it. You know, it comes more and more from training.”
This has reverberated in India, ahead of the first Test which begins on Thursday.
“I kind of don't think about it, if that makes sense? And before the match starts, you think about the match whereas the first two nets I had, I was more like testing the waters, maybe. I don't engage as much as I would in a game.
“But this all comes from coming back from surgery. I'm just testing the waters to see how everything reacts and obviously now my mind is focused on the game. So now I don't have those thoughts in my head.”
Clearly, Stokes is ahead of schedule and expects to play all five Tests. And on the eve of his first tour of India as captain, a man whose leadership involves deflecting praise from others allowed himself a proud moment.
“Throughout the process, I talked with the medical team, the surgeon himself. As long as I felt I could do my job to a certain extent, we always postponed the operation as long as possible.
“It’s been a long journey, but I’m proud of myself and the hard work I’ve done to get to this position.
“I know I've worked really hard to get myself into this condition. Hopefully this is something that will give me a little more time as we get to this point – I'm 32 now, and sports and everything like that is “I’m not here forever. I want to play for England for as long as possible. The older you get, the harder you work.”
Bowling will take a little longer to run smoothly. He won't bowl a delivery on this tour – not even off spin. But over the coming months in India, he hopes to be able to do the work necessary to possibly regain his status as an all-rounder in the upcoming English summer.
“As I said before, bowling is such an unnatural thing for the body that it won't be a matter of right, I'm fine now, I'm going straight back to bowling. Remember the last ball I The game I bowled was actually in the Ashes at Lord's, so my body is nowhere near ready to think about competitive bowling at the moment.
“But if I get to a stage on this tour where we can start to get me back into bowling, then hopefully by the summer that's where I've set myself up to play a full role , as I want to do.”
Ultimately, the extent of Stokes' recovery will be revealed in this opening Test. Such is the fire of competition that burns within him, it is only in the fire of competition that he will truly know how far he has come over the last two months. Whether it's putting a little extra behind a crouching sweep shot, rushing after a ball heading towards the boundary or suppressing the urge to take the ball in hand and change the course of a match . Or even during a prolonged passage in the earth, which these tours have the habit of vomiting.
“I did everything a game requires. I would never put myself in front of the team if I didn't think I could go out and play at a certain level. I would never be so selfish to think of myself as not am not performing at a certain level and what that might do to the team.
“I've done everything I have to do to say, 'Yes, I'm ready to go and play a Test match for England'. I'll just have to see. I might have some long days on the field but I'm ready.”
