Ben Stokes hasn’t been able to shrug off the narrative surrounding his late-night nightclub incidents. Now the former England Test captain has broken his silence regarding cricket’s long-standing, complicated relationship with alcohol.
What Did Ben Stokes Say About His Relationship With Alcohol?
Speaking candidly about his own career on the latest episode of “For The Love of Cricket,” Stokes addressed the deep-rooted cultural elements of the sport following high-profile off-field scrutiny.
“I think it can be a problem. I think because if you look at everything over the years, you look at a lot of people that I’ve been involved with in cricket and have had bad relationship with alcohol,” Stokes said. “It’s just, I don’t know what you do to change it.
“I’ve had, I don’t want to say problems, but I’ve had relationships with alcohol at times over my career that have been potentially dangerous.”
The discourse surrounding English cricket’s drinking habits resurfaced aggressively following a late-night incident in Chelsea. Following a Test victory over New Zealand at Lord’s, a night out involving Stokes and teammate Gus Atkinson led to a curfew breach and an unexpected melee involving rugby players at a London venue.
Stokes pushed back against the narrative that the England team had a unique drinking problem, choosing instead to address the broader systemic reality of the sport. In addition, addressing whether the modern game has outgrown its historical habits, Stokes pointed out a stark contrast.
While sports science, elite nutrition, and medical advancements have radically revolutionized athlete preparation since the 1980s, the social rituals anchored around drinking have stubbornly refused to evolve.
“But it’s completely different to me now. But yeah, I just think that there’s this relationship with alcohol within cricket that has been the same from the 80s. As the game has got better and better and better, that thing has just stayed around,” Stokes concluded.
Stokes continues to insist that framing the English side as a team with a systemic drinking problem is an extreme oversimplification. However, his 2017 Bristol incident, and more recently, the London nightclub incident, tell a different tale.
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