Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Matthew Revis has been speaking about the retiring England Test captain Ben Stokes.
Matthew Revis says that if he could take one thing from retiring England captain Ben Stokes’s game to put into his own, it would be his fellow all-rounder’s mindset.
Revis was informed that Stokes would be retiring from international cricket, and thus stepping down as Test captain, shortly after he had hit a stunning T20 career best 69 not out to help Yorkshire secure a Vitality Blast tie against Derbyshire at Chesterfield yesterday afternoon.
And, in his post-match media interview, the emerging all-rounder was asked if there was one part of Stokes’s game he would like to transfer into his own – skill, endurance or mindset – what would it be.
“I think mindset, and almost aggression, because whenever it gets tough, he wants to stick his hand up,” said Revis.
“Whenever other people are down, or people haven’t performed, he always seems to be the one that tries to go that extra mile almost to fight back that momentum for his side.
“He always seems to be the one to do potentially the dirty work, so that’s something that I’ll definitely take forward. Hopefully, I’ll be able to put that into my career as well.”
Revis continued: “I think he’s going to go down as nothing short of an England legend. He’s someone that I try and aspire to be, both the way he carries himself on the pitch and the determination and willingness to win that he has.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Ben Stokes during yesterday’s fourth day of the Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, when he announced his international retirement.
“He’s someone that I’ve learned quite a bit from.
“Obviously, I spent a little bit of time with him last year (Northern Superchargers), and then he was out with the Ashes and stuff like that (whilst I was with the Lions).
“So, I’ve managed to rub my shoulders with him a little bit over the last 12 months, which I’ve felt really fortunate to do.
“He’s left a humongous hole in the England team.
“Obviously the Headingley knock that he had in 2019, that was two months before I made my first-class debut. That’s the first thing I remembered before playing there.
“That will always stick in my memory.”
Revis also revealed an interesting conversation he had last week around the mindset side of the game.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire’s second-team coach Tom Smith, an all-rounder in his playing days with Lancashire.
“It’s funny, actually, because Tom Smith asked me about this during a second-team game last week,” he said.
“He said, ‘Do you learn to want to win or is inbuilt within you?’
“And I think a lot of it is in-built. Guys that play for Yorkshire and come through the age groups, there’s so much competition throughout all of your development.
“So I think you’ve almost got to have that confidence in yourself that you’re going to perform, or you’re going to make it to the next age-group or whatever. I think if you don’t, then you don’t give yourself the best chance.
“I’ve not probably had many performances that I wanted to have this year. But you’ve got to keep believing that it’s going to happen and it’s going to come because if you don’t, then it’s probably not even worth having a go.
“I think you almost learn confidence from past performances as well.
“So, last year with the Leicester game when I got 50 (52 at Grace Road in the final Blast game of the season), I remembered going through what I felt then and am trying to instil that into the games that I’m playing now.”
