England Test captain Ben Stokes showed the tenacity that has seen him become established as one of the world's best cricketers very early in his life.

Living with his family in Wellington, New Zealand - where he returns this week to lead England in their second Test match against the Blackcaps - Stokes led his side Plimmerton on an unlikely cup run.

They were due to come up against a side against whom they were 'on a hiding to nothing', but Stokes was unavailable due to suffering a broken arm prior to the match.

His mother was adamant he would not be playing in the fixture, but dad Ged had other ideas.

A renowned rugby league player, who moved to England to coach Cumbrian sides Workington and Whitehaven in later life, no-nonsense Ged had previously had part of his left middle finger amputated as he saw it as preferable to missing matches.

It's the reasoning behind Stokes' trademark celebration - and may go some way to explaining what happened all those years ago back in New Zealand.

Stokes had been due to attend the match as a spectator only, but arrived at school with his cricket kit and with no cast on his arm. Dad Ged had cut it off.

The Durham all-rounder went on to score a century, albeit in a losing effort to the eventual national champions.

"I first saw him play cricket in trials for the school team," coach Mike Smellie told the BBC. "Young kids usually want to pull, hook and hit the ball behind square. Ben would hit them out of the school ground, aged 10, straight. He could absolutely smash it.

"We kept winning. We won and won and won, and Ben was consistently making big scores. We were calling ourselves the juggernaut. We got through to play Palmerston North, a much bigger school in a massive cricket area. We were on a hiding to nothing, 100-1 and drifting.

"I was asking if he could play and he said he had another three weeks in plaster. I rang his mum, pretending to talk about something else. We got on to cricket and she said no. The day before the game, I was talking to him and said he might as well come to watch.

"The next day, he walked up the school driveway, pulling his cricket bag with no cast on his arm. I said 'what's going on?' He said 'Dad got out the scissors and cut it off this morning'."

Ged sadly died in December 2020 after a brave battle with brain cancer, aged 65.

Last year, Stokes admitted that not being able to see his dad before his death due to IPL commitments made him 'hate cricket'.

“The last time I saw Dad was leaving New Zealand to go to the Indian Premier League – that was dictated by cricket," he said.

"He wanted me to go, he really loved me playing for Rajasthan Royals and the people there. But it made me hate cricket, I thought it was the reason I didn’t see my dad before he died. I should have opened up about it sooner.

"I just thought ‘cricket, cricket, cricket’. It’s not a regret… but I’d do things differently… So I had a real thing with cricket at the time I took a break. I was really angry at the sport because it was dictating when I could see my dad.”