Barney Ronay

I think when he's playing for England, when he's playing any kind of cricket, it feels epic.

Like he's completely lost in the game.

He ennobles the sport in a way that not many things do.

It's often an ignoble business and it feels like an entertainment product.

And Stokes, for all his flaws, is utterly obsessed with the game.

Like, I can't really imagine him doing anything else.

And he's a brilliant cricketer, even if he's dropped off quite a lot.

I think his batting's kind of gone.

And the process that's happening, I think, is trying to find a way for him to continue that works, trying to see what the media reaction is going to be.

I mean, they're kind of awful in that regard, and they kind of do read the runes and see what can we get away with.

I think there is a chance he could continue, but I think it's more whether he wants to, whether he's in the right mental state to, because cricket takes a lot out of him.

I remember the first time I really saw him a lot was on his first tour to Australia, the 2013-14, the Mitchell Johnson tour, which was also epic, even though England were destroyed.

Test cricket felt massive on that tour.

Johnson felt like this kind of force of nature.

And Stokes 100 in Perth.

It was one of the best things I've ever seen.

It was so heroic.

He was 21, 22.

Pitch had huge cracks.

And you can see the Aussies were really impressed by it.