Stokes is a Durham player but he is a Cumbria lad at heart. His mates are his old school friends and the guys he played with at Cockermouth Cricket Club, which is a brilliant example of how a local club can link up with the state school down the road and keep the sport alive in the community. That link helped Stokes realise his dream of being a sportsman. “It is not that I did not see the point of school, I just knew I wanted to be sportsman from about 13 or 14. Everything I was doing at school was nothing to do with the career I wanted. I was not naughty in school but I was a teacher’s nightmare because I did not do work. I did not disrupt things, I just did not do the work I should have done. We had a good school cricket team. We played in a polo shirt and black pants. That was all the gear we had. Nothing wrong with that at all. We had one kit bag and an astroturf pitch with cigarette burns in it. “That was our pitch. But we did well. We beat private schools, several of them. Everyone played at the local club so the school team was the same as the club team from 14-15 so we were really successful as a school. We once drew Royal Grammar School Newcastle in a cup semi and when they found out they were playing us they made arrangements for the final because they thought they would beat Cockermouth School. But we humped them.”

“They said his finger would need an op but he could not afford to be out for five weeks” Stokes on his father

Ben was born in Christchurch and lived in Wellington, moving to England aged 12 when his dad Ged became the coach of Workington Town rugby league team. “We had 10 years in Christchurch and two in Wellington. I remember going to rugby training with Dad every single night. I would stand and kick goals all night. I loved it. We moved to Wellington, lived a five minute walk from the beach and ten minutes from where I played cricket and rugby. I played a lot of cricket in New Zealand and Mam and Dad have said as soon as I could walk all I wanted to do was play cricket. Whenever anyone came around to the house all I would do is play cricket in the garden for hours. I remember taking down the fence a couple of times and the Chinese family next door did not appreciate it too much.” Ged Stokes played for New Zealand and is a formidable presence. Nobody messes with him, even Ben’s opponents on the cricket field. “I played as a kid club cricket against Workington, the best team in Cumbria, and they had a pro from Auckland called Simon Beare. He did not say much to the older guys but picked on me, the young lad. I did not say a bean back then. But my old man was there watching. When I played against him again after that he didn’t say a word to me. I think Dad had a word. You can imagine why he would not say much else to me after that.”

Ben Stokes chatting with Vaughan. Philip Brown

It was a sensible move because stories of Ged’s toughness are legendary, particularly as a player in the 1980s. “There was not much money in rugby league when he was playing. This story might have had a bit of tap from the old man because he likes to sound tough but he says he went to see the doctor with a knee injury. “They said to him: ‘Your finger does not look right? What happened?’ He said it popped out - dislocated about four or five times - but he shoved it back in. They said it would need an op but he could not afford to be out for five or six weeks for surgery so he said can you cut it off because I need the money from playing. They cut it off, he was back playing the next week. “He told me and my cousins growing up that it had been snapped off by a crocodile and we all believed him for a long time. His career finished early because he broke his neck when he was kneed in the head. I was 11 days old. “He loves his cricket as well and he was not fussed when I said I wanted to play cricket. The best thing he has ever done for me was during winters we had off playing for Durham Academy he would have me in the gym from nine o’clock every morning and make sure I stayed fit so I did not go back to Durham less fit than I had been at the end of the previous season. I think I would have wasted two or three years and might not be where I am now at this age if he had not done that.”

“Not going was devastating. I was pretty angry but within two or three days a Big Bash gig had been sorted.” Stokes on the World Cup