England star Ben Stokes reveals apology he made after smashing record in New Zealand win
Ben Stokes hit a stunning 182 as England beat New Zealand in their ODI cricket match
PA
Ben Stokes has revealed he apologised to Jason Roy after starring for England against New Zealand on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old, who previously came out of retirement for ODI matches, soared to the top of his side's all-time one-day international run charts with an innings of 182.
Stokes' fine performance with the bat helped England thrash New Zealand by 181 runs.
Roy previously held the record, having hit 180 back in 2018.
England cricket star Ben Stokes apologised to Jason Roy after New Zealand win
PA
And Stokes has revealed he apologised to the 33-year-old in the aftermath, saying: “I just apologised to Jase upstairs.
“He said ‘well done’ and I said ‘sorry’.
"I don’t think there was too much to it. He’ll be pretty happy he’s seen one of his teammates, who he’s played a lot of cricket with, take that off him.
“But individual stuff like that I’m not too fussed about.
"I didn’t really know I’d done it until the bloke on the Tannoy started announcing it and then I got out next ball. It was his fault!”
He added: “It was good for me personally just to get familiarity again with how 50-over cricket goes.
“There were a couple of times I had to check myself, because I looked up and there were still 23, 24 overs left.
"Sometimes you have to drag yourself back I guess, you have way more time than you think.”
Stokes also believes the decision to return to ODI matches as a batter, rather than an all-rounder, has helped him improve as well.
“I think this is the first time I’ve been clear in my mind that that’s the one thing I can focus on," he continued.
"Over the last 18 months, every day has been: ‘Will I bowl, will I not bowl?’ Just having that clarity in my head contributes."
After the recent T20 series, England lead New Zealand 4-3 across all formats so far this summer.
They're also 2-1 up in the current 50-over series, with the final match due to be played on Friday.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead, however, is refusing to give up hope and believes his side are more than capable of levelling the series.
“All seven games have been a bit like that, one-sided either way,” said Stead.
“It’d be nice to actually have a close one so we can see both teams under pressure a wee bit.
"I think England are a quality side, we all know that.
"We also feel we can beat them on our day as well. We need to play better than we did [here] to beat them, though.”
Should England beat New Zealand overall, they'll have reason to celebrate.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
England star Ben Stokes salutes the crowd after hitting his century in his side's victory over New Zealand on Wednesday
PA
And they could even make another team trip to McDonald's, having done so after the recent Ashes series against Australia.
You may like
