Sorry, But The Jury's Still Out On Stokes Return...

Peter Hayter reports how Ben Stokes was back to his brilliant best on Wednesday – both on the field and off it

- Peter Hayter

In most respects, the man-of-the-match performance Ben Stokes put on for England in their near-perfect victory in the second one-day international against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui represented a return to business as usual.

Deprived of the chance to watch him doing what he was born to do for the best part of five months following the incident for which he is to face trial for affray, England and their supporters were thrilled to see him back to his best with bat, ball and in the field.

Afterwards, too, he said all the right things about using this as a stepping stone back to his future (something he repeated so often you feared he might wear it out) and how he felt “quite emotional” when he left the field after having helped take his team-mates over the line, mostly, perhaps, because he felt he owed them after watching them surrender the Ashes without him.

There was relief, too, and happiness, and a heightened sense of what a privilege it is to play cricket for your country.

No-one should question his sincerity, nor can anyone doubt how hard the Durham man has worked to get himself physically and psychologically match fit after such a long lay-off, nor that the inclusion of the best ODI cricketer in the world immediately makes England look like, arguably, the best ODI team in the world. He deserves all the appropriate credit for that.

Yet the moment when at least some of the air was let out of the balloon came when he should have been celebrating, in the time-honoured fashion, the landmark achievement that made it seem as though he had never been away at all.