Ben Stokes gives up alcohol to support the rehabilitation of the thigh injuries Ben Stokes

During his recent rehabilitation of injuries, Ben Stokes stopped drinking alcohol to shoot all cylinders for England for England this summer. The test captain will celebrate his comeback in the unique test against Zimbabwe in Trent Bridge on Thursday after being torn out since December after the crack of his left thigh in New Zealand.

He hurried back from a similar injury last year, but his recovery, this time after an operation was carefully treated, and Stokes did not leave anything to fulfill his vows in maximum physical condition. In conversation with the undeveloped podcast, the 33-year-old said: “After my first serious injury, I remember the shock after the initial adrenaline stopped and thought:“ How did that happen?

“Then I thought: 'Ok, I have to start changing what I do.' I don't think I will ever be completely sober, but I haven't drunk something since January.

“It is only more difficult to do everything. So now I have the feeling that I have to work so much more tougher from the field, in the gym and all of these things to just give myself the best chance to be out there to appear. But I will go as long as possible for as long as possible.”

Stokes, who hopes to play a full role as an all -rounder against Zimbabwe, revealed that his relationship with alcohol was changed significantly compared to his younger. A topic of conversation in Stokes' much published court case, where he was not found to be guilty, was how much he had consumed in Bristol during a night that ended in a street fight in 2017.

Cricket and alcohol were occasionally uncomfortable on every level at every level, but Stokes said he and many others had to adapt to the increasing standards in the professional game. Stokes said: “I can now have a social drink. In the past my wife Clare, angry that I would only be everything or nothing. If we did a nice dinner, I never really understood why it was so frustrating for her, but everything she wanted to do was a glass of wine with her husband. Now I understand what it is without annoying.

“In the 90s and 00s there were incredible stories [about drinking]. It has definitely been set a lot over the years. The game is more demanding for the body than it was. There is so much more cricket that the schedule gives so much more that it is simply impossible for the body to withstand all of this without the disadvantages of what a few beers can do for the next day at the end of the day. “