ENGLAND'S HEART AND SOUL

Stokes has 10 games to cement greatness but puts team first

- By Jeremy Cross

BEN STOKES is reluctant to admit he could be embarking on the defining period of his time as England captain.

The skipper knows his legacy is secure, thanks to an astonishing career at the highest level.

He is not the sort to worry too much about what people think of him, or how he will be judged in years to come.

But the magnitude of the next seven months, which will see England take on India in a five-Test home series starting today before heading to Australia on a mission to regain the Ashes, is not lost on Stokes.

He said: "For me it is [easy to ignore talk of legacy] because I don’t tend to worry myself about what other people are going to say, or think about what I’ve done as a captain at the end of it.

"I’d like to think that since I’ve done this role, I’ve done it wholeheartedly and thrown everything I possibly have into doing it, both on the field and off the field.