England look to action man Stokes in Champions Trophy

LONDON: Ben Stokes would be the first to say England are more than a one-man team but if anyone sums up their revival in limited overs cricket it is the dynamic Durham all-rounder.

Just over two years since a defeat by Bangladesh in Adelaide sealed their embarrassing first-round exit from the 2015 World Cup, England face the Tigers in the Champions Trophy opener at The Oval on Thursday with genuine optimism they can at last win a first major one-day international tournament.

Part of the reason for that is Stokes.

The son of a former New Zealand rugby league international, he also had cricket in his genes thanks to his mother, Deborah, a noted player.

Born in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, Stokes moved with his parents to England as a boy when his father, Ged, got a job coaching northwest rugby league club Workington.

It was soon clear he had inherited his mother’s telent, with Ged Stokes telling the Daily Mirror: “Deb was a very good cricketer and I was OK

“At a very early age, before he left New Zealand, he started showing signs he could develop into a very good cricketer.

“He had an instinctive technique and style of play — it was very basic, almost ‘see ball, hit ball.”

That same uninhibited approach remains at the heart of Stokes’s approach at the crease.

On his day, and in the right conditions, he can also be an effective right-arm swing bowler.