Cricket: Ben Stokes' father Ged hospitalised in South Africa

Ged Stokes (right) with son Ben and wife Deborah in Christchurch in 2017. Photo / Getty

Ben Stokes' father and former Kiwis player Ged Stokes has been hospitalised in South Africa.

Ged Stokes was hospitalised on Monday in Johannesburg with a serious illness and is in a critical condition, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said.

The England cricket hero Ben Stokes is at his bedside and will not be at the team's next training session ahead of their first test against South Africa, which begins on Boxing Day.

Ged Stokes, a former Kiwis forward and assistant coach, had travelled from Christchurch to support his son during the tests.

In a statement the ECB said: "The England and Wales Cricket Board, with the support of Ben and his family, request that the media and public respect Ben and his family's privacy at this time."

Ged Stokes' odyssey as a league coach led to Ben Stokes playing for England.

Ben was 12 when the family arrived, and his junior cricket years involved endless hours of travel every week from the family's Cumbria home to training sessions and games in Durham.

Speaking to the Herald earlier this year after the Cricket World Cup final in which his son was named man of the match, Stokes said he would always support New Zealand teams and did so again, despite his son playing for England and also knowing many England players such as Joe Root who came up through junior ranks with Ben.

He said the England camp treated the players and their families superbly, and the Stokes family had also been amazed by the support for Ben in New Zealand. Stokes and his wife Deborah moved back to New Zealand in 2013.

"I know England better than an Englishman," said Gerard Stokes, about the many car trips.

"I will always support New Zealand but I have that affinity with the England team.

"I could only think about how far [Ben] has come, from being a boy in a small English village to being man of the match in a World Cup final."