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Ben Stokes pays tribute to Australia captain Steve Smith for helping his batting

Ben Stokes, who returns for England in the first Royal London ODI against South Africa on Wednesday, has struck up a productive friendship with Australia captain Steve Smith - PA
Ben Stokes, who returns for England in the first Royal London ODI against South Africa on Wednesday, has struck up a productive friendship with Australia captain Steve Smith - PA

Steve Waugh and Allan Border will be shaking their heads in disbelief when they hear that Ben Stokes has revealed how Australia’s captain Steve Smith helped his batting.

An Aussie helping out a Pom? Whatever next? But Stokes and Smith, team-mates at Pune in the IPL, forged a mutual respect over the past six weeks as the England all-rounder took India by storm.

Stokes won the IPL’s most valuable player award and has the world at his feet at the age of 26 with the million dollar contracts and endorsements about to roll in.

Now back in England for the start of his international summer against South Africa at Headingley on Wednesday, Stokes believes he has returned home a better player for his IPL experience.

“I think my bowling has gone up another level, working with Eric Simons [the bowling coach at Rising Pune Supergiant]. All in all I think my areas are a lot better and tighter than they have been recently in one-day cricket which solely came down from just working with him over the six weeks I was there. And other aspects as well – batting in different situations and different pressure – you would hope that coming away from that tournament all parts of my game have got better.”

Smith was captain of Pune, who lost Sunday’s final against the Mumbai Indians by one run, and described Stokes as a “perfect fit” for his team after he won three man of the match awards.

Stokes in total hit 316 runs at a strike rate of 143 including his first Twenty20 century. His 12 wickets at an economy rate of 7.18 per over adds credence to his belief he improved his bowling with the white ball. Two brilliant catches as well topped of the whole package.

International players have long described the IPL as a melting pot of ideas and it is one reason why Kevin Pietersen was such a vocal advocate of England players experiencing the tournament.

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Stokes worked with Smith on his batting as Ashes rivalries were forgotten in the pursuit of wins for their team. With England set to play Australia in the group stage of the Champions Trophy at Edgbaston on June 10, Smith may very soon come to regret his generosity.

“It was really good actually. From playing with a guy you play against – England v Australia and the hype around England v Australia – then playing with him. I remember doing a batting session with some power hitting towards the end where the guy who I will actually be playing against in the Ashes in our winter was helping me, which is something that you would never be able to fathom when you are playing against each other.

"When you have got two guys who are going to play each other and want to be winning and have their own ways of going about it end up working together – IPL is probably the only place where you get that. One you get in the same team together with other players like that, obviously you both want to win and it wasn’t just him helping me, it was the other local guys as well coming up asking for everything like that so you just get knowledge from your team-mates whether they be Indian, Australia, South African or whatever.”

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Stokes refused to say how he intends to spend his £1.7m IPL earnings which are sure to rocket at the next auction. He now has a reputation as a matchwinner and was popular with the Indian fans, adding to his appeal to sponsors.

“You can’t walk across the road and get a coffee without 'selfie, selfie, selfie' and this kind of stuff. Cricket is a religion out in India and it’s completely different to England. They go mad for it. They’ll queue up for five hours just to get a seat just to see [MS] Dhoni walk out on to the pitch,” he said. “No matter where we went, because we had Dhoni in our team it felt like a home game. Whenever he came on the big screen every stadium just erupted. They appreciate cricket for what it is. It’s an amazing place to experience but I just think it’s different wherever you go in the world and India is obviously the extreme of it.”

Stokes and Jos Buttler missed the IPL final to attend England’s training camp in Spain. Pietersen criticised the England decision saying Stokes should have been experiencing an IPL final rather than “having beers in Spain”. Stokes responded by posting a video of himself working in the gym with the title “beers in Spain” but Pietersen did have a point. An IPL final, with its pressure and vast television audience, is a unique experience and neither Stokes nor Buttler would have had any trouble in reintegrating into the England side if they had missed the overseas bonding trip where the squad played golf and football, held quiz nights and worked on fielding.

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“I think there was a lot of criticism about that purely because it was in Spain,” said Stokes. “If we’d done something like that in England I don’t think there would have been a bean said at all. The reasons for that were to get together as a team and not get disturbed by anything or anyone around us. I think the whole thing got blown up because it was in Spain and obviously you associate Spain with sunshine, beer, parties and not hard work. But we did a lot of hard work.”

Ben Stokes was speaking on behalf of Royal London, proud sponsors of one-day cricket

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