"The job that I'm in means a lot of time away from home, so it’s nice knowing I’ve got my family on my back, in an animal sense." - Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes' tattoos are an important part of his identity, and each month on The Edge we're telling the stories behind his ink.
We kicked off with Ben's tribute to his dad - a poignant quote in Maori on his left forearm.
And today we're focusing on Ben's eye-catching back piece, a stunning design featuring a family of lions, which took 28 HOURS to complete.
So what does it represent? Here's Ben with the lowdown:
"All my tattoos mean something to me personally and are very special to me," he said.
"This one represents me, my amazing wife and my two wonderful kids.
"The job that I'm in means a lot of time away from home and stuff like that, so I it’s nice knowing I've got my family on my back, in an animal sense.
"It's a massive back piece, and as my dad used to say to me, 'you can get a tattoo, but it needs to have some meaning to you.' There's always a meaning."
So what was Ben's first ever tattoo?
"My first one was actually on my right shoulder blade and I wanted it to sort of symbolise me being in England now, but also you can see my New Zealand background.
"So I actually got the three lions with a design that I found on the internet, which was a rugby ball shape but it was done in Māori style.
"What I did was split that in half and put it in around the edges of the three lions. It’s covered up now though!"
.png)
