Ben Stokes - So human, so very good

"Well done for trying..." Ben Stokes is better than most at answering reporters' questions in a meaningful way. But that preamble to an enquiry put to him at a press conference reduced even one of cricket's more polished talkers to a splutter. "I'm sorry," he said with a startled smile when the reporter was done asking, "What was your question again?"

This happened at Lord's in August, after South Africa had beaten Stokes' England Test team in just more than three days of playing time. There was plenty to explain, to rue having done poorly, and to promise to do better. Well done for trying? Excuse me?

It was strange watching Stokes flounder, because it so rarely happens. He astounds even his own teammates, and not only by pulling off outrageous feats in the middle. Sometimes at training sessions, just for the hell of it, he flips from his feet onto his hands and walks several metres upside down; easy as you like. Watching England's other players watching him with the same kind of awe as people who don't play top level cricket for a living watch them is an education.

There Stokes was again at the MCG on Sunday, walking not on his hands but on imported air to spur England to victory in the T20 World Cup final against Pakistan. He opened the bowling and took the important wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed, who was caught behind for a duck as Pakistan were held to a total of 137/8.

But the biggest chunk of Stokes' work started in the fourth over of the reply, when Haris Rauf had Phil Salt caught at midwicket, reducing England to 32/2. Stokes took guard and saw his team slip further to 84/4 in the 13th. By the end of that over England were 0.59 runs behind the required rate and two runs ahead of the Duckworth/Lewis par. England needed 51 off 42. Stokes had scored 18 off 24. The game, the final, the trophy, the culmination of everything England had worked for was in the balance.

In the England dugout, other players were again watching Stokes with the same kind of awe as people who don't play top level cricket for a living. "We were all nervous, even when it was Ben Stokes batting, because it was getting tight," Adil Rashid said. "But we also knew that Stokes was there with Moeen [Ali] and [Liam] Livingstone to come. So we also had that self-belief that we still had batters in the shed. But when you're in that situation everyone is biting their fingernails. Thankfully we got over the line.

"Obviously he is human, but 'Stokesy' is a matchwinner. He's proven that in the 50-over World Cup, he's done it in Tests, and now he's done it in T20. Even if it wasn't him [to score the runs] we had the likes of Liam Livingstone coming in, Sam Curran, Moeen there. We've got matchwinners all the way down, but it's just a normal thing to get nervous. Especially in a final, and on the verge of winning it. So we were nervous but we were also confident with 'Stokesy' there."

Stokes stayed there until the job was done, scoring an unbeaten 52 off 49 to clinch England's five-wicket win with an over remaining. "He always stands up in the biggest moments," Jos Buttler said. "He's a man who can take a lot of pressure on his shoulders and perform. When he's in the middle, you know you've got a good chance. I'm so proud of him and pleased for him. He's stood up and done it again.

"He's a true matchwinner and he's been there in those scenarios time and time again, and he has a lot of know-how about doing that. It wasn't his most fluent innings and he didn't time the ball as well as he can, but you knew he was never going to go down without a fight, that he was going to stand up and be there at the end. We're immensely lucky to have him. He's one of the great players of English cricket."

The greatest? "He's certainly in the conversation ..." Buttler didn't get further than that before a yelp of mock protest came from the far side of the room, where Rashid and Moeen Ali were awaiting their interactions with the press: "No!"

Shan Masood knew he didn't have the luxury of being snarky: "Ben Stokes is a world-class player who isn't in need of me giving him any compliments. He soaked in the pressure of a final and he made sure he was there at the end."

Like he was at the end of the 2019 ODI World Cup final against New Zealand at Lord's. Stokes' unbeaten 84 won that game, not least because a throw from Martin Guptill deflected off Stokes' bat as he dived to make his ground during the super over. The ball streaked to the boundary, prompting Stokes to ask the umpires not to award the runs to England. They did not have the authority to accede to his request, and they stood.

Stokes looked more bewildered in that moment than he had when he was tossed a curveball in a press conference at Lord's in August. Sunday threw up no such weirdness, and he was able to do what was required to steer England to a convincing victory, scoring an altogether more conventional unbeaten 52 off 49. His runs, punctuated by enough boundaries to keep England ahead of the curve they needed to follow to nail down their win, flowed like the forecast rain that did not.

It was as close to a gritty innings - as opposed to a blaze of big shots - as Stokes is likely to have played in white-ball cricket. And he got on with things and did it. Like anyone else who can't walk on their hands or be outrageous just for the hell of it. Stokes made himself as close to human as the rest of us, especially those who gaze at his exploits from far away, can only stand back and admire. Well done for trying indeed.