England cricket star Ben Stokes jokes that looking at himself he “can’t say where the Māori is” but he is very proud and respectful of his Māori heritage.
Stokes explained to New Zealand media today ahead of the second Test in Hamilton that he had Māori heritage on his mother’s side.
“It (his tattoo) has got the tribe and looking at me, I can’t say where the Māori is to be honest,” he said.
“I’m obviously very proud of my heritage and where I am from, I’ll always respect that, this tattoo on my arm just signifies where the family lies from.”
NZ-born Stokes, who is the son of a former Kiwis rugby league representative who moved to the north of England to coach the game, broke the hearts of New Zealanders with his heroics in the Cricket World Cup final against the Black Caps earlier this year.
The England cricketer is the son of New Zealanders and has been copping stick about his World Cup-winning heroics. (Source: Other)
He said Kiwis had been giving him stick about that performance since arriving in New Zealand a week ahead of his Test teammates so he could spend time with family in Christchurch.
“Just comments of ‘oh he’s back home’, ‘come on Kiwi’ and ‘come on the Cantab’ and stuff like that which is obviously light-hearted,” Stokes said of the reaction.
Any tour to New Zealand takes on special significance for Stokes because of the family connection.
“Coming to New Zealand, it’s not only just a cricket tour for me, it’s also a great time to be able to spend time with family that I don’t get to see that often.”
“I came out a week before the Test guys to stay with my mum and dad, which was awesome, got to see brothers, cousins.”
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