Auckland: No minutes are quite so egalitarian as those endured between disembarking an international flight and making it to the arrivals hall, as Ben Stokes learnt on Friday.
Travelling without the privileges of a foreign dignitary or a rock star, England’s returning all-rounder spent the better part of an hour collecting luggage and ticking boxes before emerging to a flood of media questions that are bound to now become a daily part of his existence.
When starting his long journey at Heathrow on Wednesday, Stokes posted a photo to Instagram of his boarding pass captioned with a smiley face emoji. But with the trip finally complete, his eyes were fixed firmly forward, pacing past the hire car desks and into the welcoming arms of a modest party of ECB handlers.
His job was to grin politely and get out of there, not stop to chat, as he finally joined up with the England team 144 days after the incident outside a Bristol nightclub that has kept him out of the team.
After indicating he will plead not guilty to a charge of affray in court earlier this week he now faces a Crown Court trial but he is not required at the first hearing on March 12 and is free to play in New Zealand if selected.
A sole response was lured when asked if he was looking forward to seeing his teammates. Of course, he is. Wearing a black T-shirt and high-top white shoes, with sunglasses donned in the best traditions of cricketers walking through airports, Stokes at least looked at ease. Once outside, followed by cameras, he loaded his bags and was driven down the highway to Hamilton where he arrived at the team hotel at 6pm local time.
The 26-year-old was greeted by David Willey and Liam Plunkett, who happened to be in the foyer at the time, along with the team physiotherapist. Later in the evening, he joined a bigger group of teammates watching New Zealand’s match against Australia in Auckland. Another win for Australia — with a world record T20 chase of 244 — kept alive England’s slim hopes of making the final on Wednesday.
Stokes will train on Saturday to start proving his readiness for the ODIs that come next. Back to doing what he does best, but in a world unrecognisable to the one he exited in Bristol.
