Ben Stokes delivers rallying call to England team-mates ahead of crucial World Cup clash against South Africa

By Rory Dollard, PA
Published 17th Oct 2023, 19:10 BST
England’s head coach Matthew Mott has revealed how the side’s “spiritual leader” Ben Stokes stepped in to rally the dressing room after their shock World Cup defeat by Afghanistan.

Stokes, who came out of one-day retirement to help defend the trophy he did more than anyone to win in 2019, has yet to feature in India after suffering a hip injury on the the eve of the tournament.

But Sunday’s upset in Delhi, where a side whose only previous win on this stage was a narrow one against Scotland eight years ago, led Stokes to address his team-mates during a dressing room debrief.

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Test captain Stokes is on track to return in Saturday’s must-win clash against South Africa at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, but has already made his presence felt behind the scenes.

INCOMING: Ben Stokes, pictured during a drinks break in the World Cup clash between England and Afghanistan in Delhi, is set to return to the fray against South Africa this Saturday. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesINCOMING: Ben Stokes, pictured during a drinks break in the World Cup clash between England and Afghanistan in Delhi, is set to return to the fray against South Africa this Saturday. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
INCOMING: Ben Stokes, pictured during a drinks break in the World Cup clash between England and Afghanistan in Delhi, is set to return to the fray against South Africa this Saturday. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

“He’s like the spiritual leader of the group in many ways and he certainly spoke really well after the game the other day,” said Mott.

“He spoke about that need to really assert ourselves, which he’s renowned for. I said ‘I’ve got this’ and just spoke, talked about the plan going forward for the next few days, and then Stokesy came in on the back of that.

“He really reinforced what was a great message, particularly for someone who’s sitting on the bench and has a bit of a different lens on things. I think it went down well, it brought us back to controlling what we can control, really.”

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Saturday’s clash will bring together two highly-ranked teams desperate to avoid a further setback to their World Cup hopes .

Last November the Netherlands’ shock win in Adelaide dumped South Africa out of the T20 World Cup.

In Dharamshala, the Proteas crashed to a 38-run defeat in the 50-over equivalent, South Africa squandered plenty of promising positions as their hopes of reaching the knockout stages suffered a sizeable blow.

Mott’s own attempt at diagnosing England’s problems saw him suggest that the defending champions were suffering from a lack of self-belief. Having become the most swaggering side on the planet during their reinvention from also-rans to world champions under Eoin Morgan, England looked uncharacteristically tentative in their losses to New Zealand and Afghanistan.