‘Ben Stokes Was Keen To Play For New Zealand Cricket And Then…’ Big Revelation From Ross Taylor

In his recently released book, Ross Taylor Black & White, which stuff.co.nz has reported on in part, Taylor stated that he had questioned Stokes about playing for New Zealand back in 2010 while the two were teammates for Durham. Taylor claimed that he had contacted Justin Vaughan, who was the CEO of NZC at the time, in response to Stokes’ apparent intense interest.

“He was 18 or 19 and very much a Kiwi. Over a Guinness, I asked him if he wanted to come and play in New Zealand. He was keen so I sent a message to New Zealand Cricket CEO Justin Vaughan saying this guy Stokes was a really good young cricketer and interested in playing for New Zealand.”
The reply from the NZC CEO was rather unsatisfactory and the idea did not materialise finally. “Vaughan replied along the lines that he could start playing domestic cricket and we’d see where it went. I went back saying we’d have to offer him more than that because he wouldn’t be interested if it meant starting on the bottom rung of the ladder.

Obviously, it didn’t come to anything.”
Taylor claimed that Stokes was very eager to play for the Black Caps but that Vaughan was adamant that Stokes not go up the ladder and play right away.

He added, “Ben was sincere about playing for New Zealand, but NZC would’ve had to have acted swiftly and decisively and given him some pretty solid assurances, which Vaughan clearly wasn’t prepared to do.”

When he was 12 years old, Stokes and his father Gerard moved to England because his father had been offered a professional league coaching position in Cumbria. Stokes quickly advanced to the senior squad after joining the Durham academy. He now serves as the England Test team’s captain.

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