Andrew Strauss urges Ben Stokes to not get distracted by increased popularity after guiding England to WC win

Former England skipper Andrew Strauss has urged Ben Stokes to stay humble after the all-rounder guided his team to the World Cup 2019 crown. Playing a heroic innings of 84 not out against New Zealand at Lord's on Sunday, Stokes' partnership with Jos Buttler helped tie the game after they had lost four quick wickets. The Super Over was tied as well, but the hosts triumphed as they had hit more boundaries in the match. 

Stokes was declared the Man on the Match in the final, with his heroics forcing the British Prime Ministerial candidates to state that they will try their best to bestow the player with knighthood. 

Strauss, who has seen Stokes in his lowest days, urged him to not get affected by the increased popularity. 

"What will be hard for Ben going forward is the levels of adulation he'll receive," Strauss said on Tuesday.

"That was a burden for Freddie Flintoff. He often lived up to it and that was great, but increasingly you are under more and more pressure to be the man every time you play and that is a big burden."

A few years ago, Stokes had been involved in a late-night brawl at a bar at Bristol, which forced him to miss the Ashes. He was sent to jail as well for a day last year, and it was Strauss, who was the director of English cricket at the time, who helped Stokes recover from the ordeal. Stokes was later found not guilty.

"You know what, I just remember going down to the police station with Ben. I spent a long time with Clare, his wife, waiting for him to come out of the jail," he said.

"What struck me as soon as he came out was actually his character. Because he stood up and said, 'I've got this horribly wrong. I apologise sincerely for what I've done here'.

"From that moment on, I thought this was going to be a good thing for him. It was very hard to know which way it was going to go. People can go two ways after something like that happens to them.

"Anyone who knows Ben and who has played with him knows what an incredible person he is to have on your team.

"What we've seen is some of those rough edges just smoothed a little bit over the last 12 or 18 months without him losing that incredible desire and hunger to win.

"It's an easy story to say what happened in the World Cup final is redemption for him, but I just think it was one of English cricket's talents showing what he can do on the greatest stage."