He's been favourite since the World Cup, but yesterday's antics have seen his price tumble.
England cricketer Ben Stokes is now as short as 1/6 to be crowned Sports Personality of the Year 2019 after producing one of the greatest ever Test performances in the Ashes yesterday.
Those odds mean some bookmakers are implying an 85.7% probability Stokes scoops the individual accolade in December.
With a whopping 91.7% of bets on the market in the last 24 hours, he’s unsurprisingly by far the most backed.
The 28-year-old already had one hand on the prize thanks to his incredible contribution in England’s dramatic World Cup win at the end of May.
However, yesterday his extraordinary 135 not-out single-handedly (with a little help from his bespectacled sidekick Jack Leach) rescued England’s Ashes campaign at Headingley.
Australia had all the momentum after lunch and when Stokes’ partnership with Jonny Bairstow was brought to an abrupt end, all seemed lost for England.
Putting on a last wicket stand of 76 runs to complete a record 359 run chase, Stokes hit 74 of the runs, including an audacious switch-hit six.
The Ashes series is now tied 1-1 and Stokes has written his name into the history books with one of the most astonishing individual performances in sport.
Oddschecker spokesperson Callum Wilson: “When Ben Stokes hammered that final four his fist rose moments before the entire country leapt to its feet.
“He’s had the English faithful in the palm of his hand all summer, and yesterday’s antics have catapulted him from cricketing hero to something more like a legend of English sport. If Freddie Flintoff was worthy of SPOTY in 2005, they might as well give it to Ben Stokes now.”
