THE CRICKETER'S MOMENTS OF 2019 - NICK HOWSON: The England allrounder's unbeaten 135 in the third Ashes Test at Headingley was so much more than a redemption story
The silence. You can still hear the silence.
Headingley might not be the cricketing amphitheatre it once was but during a fateful August Bank Holiday, it became an epic stage for the ultimate sporting underdog story of 2019.
As marketable sports figures go, Ben Stokes doesn't necessarily fit the mould executives have created in their new vogue ideas chamber.
But in many ways, that is what makes him ideal as a hero for the modern age. Struggling to be understood and uncertain of himself: he encapsulates the identity crisis many can relate to. What makes him different also makes him the same.
The English allrounder has his guard up, and with good reason. He knows too well the rough end of the media's quill and has been regularly trialled, without context, by social media.
Ben Stokes revels in the role as England's knight in shining armour
In the public eye he is a shadow of his personality, unwilling to open up for fear of being persecuted further down the line. That is what some sections of the media have done to individuals in the spotlight. His winner's speech at BBC Sports Personality of the Year was a rare instance that veil slipping.
Stars of other sports, read football's Raheem Sterling and Lewis Hamilton of Formula One - two fellow nominees for that prize - encounter similar levels of disdain, though provoked by an altogether different motivation.
Like that duo, Stokes has this fascinating and elusive ability to leave behind the conversation around him, and perform to a quite startling level in his chosen discipline. Attention on sportspeople has never been more intense, partly thanks to online reaction culture where you only exist if you are inflammatory.
The summer had already been painted as an opportunity for redemption. The incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September 2017 was played out in a public forum, forcing him to miss the Ashes that winter. But this chapter could eclipse everything.
The scoreboard only told half the story
If Stokes had to share the World Cup glory with Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer, among others, Headingley firmly belonged to him. Forget Jack Leach and his glasses, the Durham man had the stage all to his own.
The nerveless, breezy hitting has been eulogised over for months since the event. The numerous opportunities scuppered by Australia to win the Ashes at the first time of asking firmly analysed. Leach's role in the chaos of the occasion hailed in the form of novelty Twitter accounts. It is not necessary to labour on the key junctures again. Highlight reels, Jonathan Agnew, Nasser Hussain and co. will do that for us.
The overarching memory from the fateful afternoon was the anticipation before every delivery. A soundtrack which was dominated first by tension, belief and then euphoria, was punctuated by moments of silence. Time appeared to stop for an eternity before every ball of the 10th wicket stand as if the game itself wanted us to enjoy every nanosecond.
Explosions of noise and vigour would replace the lulls what seemed like several excruciating minutes later; life injected into the event like a dormant volcano effervescing for the first time in a generation.
Headingley was once again the stage of more Ashes drama
The World Cup Final was equally as dramatic and signified the end of a four-year about-turn. But it was an unsatisfactory climax from a sporting perspective. A trophy gained, but at what expense?
The unique way in which Test and Ashes cricket is cherished in England means there were no imperfect elements to this particular afternoon just outside of Leeds. To many, the World Cup had never been on the radar.
But the Ashes has been part of the tapestry of British sport for decades. Not free-to-air but a crown jewel all the same. That it is spoken about in the same way as a piece of silverware or the heroics of 1981 says everything about its impact.
Stokes' crunching drive and open-armed celebration is one of the cultural moments of the century. Labelling it significant just doesn't do it justice.
OTHER MOMENTS OF 2019
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