'Sometimes I can't believe I have hit a good shot'

You wouldn't think Ben Stokes goes through nervous breakdowns the way he can muscle the ball out of the ground or get it to zip over the batsman's ears. But the 24-year old England allrounder says otherwise in a wide-ranging interview with Michael Vaughan in the Telegraph. With some dressing room secrets, missing out on World Cup selection and old war stories about his father Ged's time as a cricketer in New Zealand, Stokes charts the story of his career so far.

"As I have gone up in levels I have always thought I'm not good enough. I remember my first game for Durham I was petrified. My first game for Cumbria I was sick after lunch because of the nerves.

"Sometimes I can't believe I have hit a good shot. In Joburg I hit Morkel over his head for four. It just happened. I was in an attacking mindset. I played the shot and then thought 'oh God, how did that happen?. Did I do that?'. I did not mean to take it on. I was just throwing my hands at everything."