Ben Stokes: Experiences From Ups & Downs Of My Life Have Made Me Positive

After getting the captaincy of the beleaguered England Test team, star all-rounder Ben Stokes hoped the ups and downs of his career will help him make a successful captain.

Stokes succeeds right-handed batter Joe Root, who resigned from the role in April this year, in becoming the 81st captain of the England men's Test team.

Stokes' appointment as the captain was hugely expected, especially after Root, 31, stepped down from the role in the aftermath of England losing a three-match away Test series to the West Indies in March. His first assignment as the Test captain will be a three-match home Test series against New Zealand, starting at the Lord's from June 2.

Asked how his experiences had changed him over the course of his journey, Stokes told BBC Sports, "There's a lot of things that I've gone through since I became a professional cricketer, and those experiences I feel are positive in this new role that I've got."

"I've been through a lot of good and have been through a lot of bad and I feel like I can relate to both sides of what this sporting life can throw at you. I hope that now because I'm England captain, I'm not seen as a different person to the people who I've played with. I feel as if I've always been someone who anybody can come and speak to," he said.

Stokes, 30, will take charge of an England men's Test team that has won just one out of the last 17 matches and sit at bottom of the 2021-23 World Test Championship cycle.

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"I see everything that I've gone through as a positive and you can relate to people if that is good or bad. I don't see anything that I've gone through as a negative. If anything, I see it as a way that I can always try and help them."