Yorkshire CCC star Matty Revis says inspirational Ben Stokes leaves “humungous hole”
THERE was a touch of the Ben Stokes about the way in which Matty Revis fired Yorkshire to an improbable tie in Derbyshire on Sunday.
The game was done, or so it seemed, before Revis clubbed 69 not out from 32 balls, with five sixes and four fours, to carry Yorkshire to 215-8 in a breathless finale in Chesterfield.
Coming on the afternoon in which Stokes announced his international retirement, it was a fitting performance from the Yorkshire all-rounder. Stokes has served as an inspiration to Revis, as to so many players, during a career that will continue with his county Durham.
“I think he’s going to go down as nothing short of an England legend,” said Revis, as he contemplated the legacy of a cricketing great.
“He's someone that I try and aspire to be like, both in the way that he carries himself on the pitch and also in terms of the determination and willingness to win that he has as well.
“He’s someone that I’ve learned quite a bit from; I spent a little bit of time with him in The Hundred last year (with Northern Superchargers), and then I was out there with the England Lions during the Ashes, so I’ve managed to rub 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 with how he’s performed throughout his career.”
Perhaps Stokes’s greatest moment came at Headingley in 2019 when he led England to a remarkable one-wicket win against Australia.
Six weeks after helping England to lift the 50-over World Cup, Stokes hit 135 not out and shared in a last-wicket stand of 76 with Jack Leach, who contributed a single.
“That Headingley knock will go down in history,” added the 24-year-old Revis. “I think that was about a month before I made my first-class debut, so that's the first thing I really saw of Headingley before I played on it.
“That knock will always stick in my memory. But just the effect that he’s had really on English cricket has been incredible.”
Revis’s hero growing up was another all-rounder: Andrew Flintoff. The mindset of Flintoff and Stokes - as with Ian Botham before them - is something that Revis is trying to emulate.
Of Stokes, he added: “I think just his mindset and aggression is so impressive because whenever it gets tough he wants to stick his hand up.
“Whenever other people are down, or people haven't quite performed, he always seems to be the one that tries to go that extra mile to fight back that momentum for his side.
“He always seems to be the one to potentially do the dirty work, and things like that, so that's something I want to learn from myself. Hopefully, I can implement that in my own career.”
It is a career which, if the events of Chesterfield are any indication, is heading in the right direction as Revis continues to make strides with bat and ball. His bowling contribution at Queen’s Park should not be overlooked - 2-14 from two overs in Derbyshire’s own colossal total of 215-9.
Revis bowled the 16th and 18th overs of the innings, castling Wayne Madsen for the top score of 62 and having Amrit Basra caught at deep mid-wicket by substitute fielder Dom Bess.
Revis was a big reason why Yorkshire conceded just 38 runs from the last five overs - and 17 from the last three - in a period of play that ultimately proved vital.
“I thought we did very well as a team to drag it back in the last few overs of their innings and give ourselves a fighting chance,” he added. “Obviously, the first 10/12 overs of their innings didn’t go our way, and that’s what that ground can be like - it can be very fast-scoring and once someone gets in, it can be very hard to stop them.
“Then, with the bat, it felt like the pressure was off me a little bit because it was a do-or-die situation really and I think that probably played into my favour.
“The first time I really felt as though the pressure was on was when it went down to the last ball; before that, it was kind of see-ball, hit-ball.”
The equation boiled down to 18 runs wanted off the final over bowled by Akif Javed. After a dot ball, Revis hit the left-arm pace man for 6, 2, 2, 6 to leave two needed off the final delivery, from which he had to settle for a single to mid-off.
“That was almost the first time I'd really had to think about much and as he was running in, I was kind of thinking to just hit it as hard and as flat as I could,” he said.
“If I tried to hit a six and got caught then we’d lose the game, whereas if I hit it flat then hopefully I could find a gap with a fast outfield, or, if the ball was fumbled , then we might have been able to scamper back for two.
“We got so close but, unfortunately, couldn’t quite get over that last hurdle.
“It probably deserved to be a tie in the end and it was a really good game of cricket.”