Boof expecting Stokes
THE Ben Stokes saga isn’t weighing heavily on the mind of Darren Lehmann but Australia’s coach will be ready if the all-rounder features in the Ashes, as has been widely speculated.
The five-Test series starts at the Gabba on Thursday but the fate of Stokes remains unclear, almost two months after his infamous Bristol brawl that left a man hospitalised with facial injuries.
The Telegraph in Britain has reported that local police will decide this week whether Stokes will be charged.
Stokes was stood down by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), pending the result of the police investiga- tion. Murmurings are growing louder that Stokes could receive a two-Test ban from England’s cricket board then return for the WACA clash that starts on December 14.
It is a scenario that Lehmann has digested.
“You’re always planning for every player, even though he’s not in the squad,” Lehmann said yesterday.
“We’ll just wait and see what happens with ECB and the courts. We can’t worry about it at the moment.” Wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow believed the Stokes saga would be resolved “sooner rather than later” but didn’t give away too much more when England arrived in Brisbane yesterday for the Ashes opener.
“You know far more about that than I do,” he said to the media scrum at Brisbane airport flanked by Barmy Army supporters. “Look, it’d be amazing if Stokesy comes out here.
“We don’t know what’s going on at the moment, that’s completely out of our hands.
“But I’m sure it will get resolved sooner rather than later, we hope, because at the end of the day we want the best cricketers playing in the Ashes don’t we?”
Capable of winning games with bat or ball, Stokes’s absence was glaring on the final day of England’s final tour game. Youngsters Jason Sangha and Matt Short combined for a four-and-a-half hour, 263-run stand in Townsville, handling the visitors’ attack with ease.
“They haven’t got him here, so they can’t miss him,” Lehmann noted. “They’ve got their squad that they think can win the Ashes. For us it’s more of a case of dealing with the squad they’ve got here. He’s obviously a high-quality player. That’s up to them.”
Stokes recently posted a series of videos online, showing him bowling in the nets at Durham.
Legendary England allrounder Ian Botham recently said Stokes would “go through the processes, but I would not be surprised to see him here sooner rather than later”.
Lehmann was taking no comfort in the visitors’ indifferent form during their three tour games. “They’ve been solid. They’ve got what they need to,” he said. “You’re just getting prepared and fine tuned for the games ahead.”
AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND November 23-27, Gabba, 11am