Ben Stokes pays tribute to late father after 'most memorable' hundred vs West Indies in 2nd Test
India Today
West Indies vs England: Ben Stokes hit 120 from 126 balls, his first hundred in Test cricket since the death of his father Ged who passed away in 2020, on Day 2 of the 2nd Test in Barbados.
Ben Stokes called his 11th Test hundred as the 'most memorable' as he paid tribute to his late father after getting to the landmark on Day 2 of the 2nd Test between England and the West Indies in Barbados.
The England vice-captain on Friday hit 120 from just 128 balls as he took the attack to the West Indies bowlers, smashing 11 boundaries and 6 sixes in an entertaining innings. Stokes's hundred that followed Joe Root's daddy hundred meant England posted 507/9 declared in their first innings.
It was also Stokes's first hundred since his father, Ged, passed away of brain cancer in late 2020. Stokes had taken a 4-month mental health break, missing the English summer last year and was struggling to find form in the Ashes.
Stokes made just 49 runs across 2 innings in the first Test but he showed signs of a return to peak form in his dominant hundred in the 2nd Test.
SPECIAL FEELING
After getting to the milestone, Stokes removed his helmet, looked up at the sky and bent the middle finger in his left hand in a tribute to his late father, Ged, who had the same finger amputated after incurring multiple dislocations during a career as a New Zealand rugby international.
"It was a very special feeling," said Stokes.
