Stung by Stokes, England to stay ‘sober’
MUMBAI: The prospect of having to play the Ashes series without star all-rounder Ben Stokes, arrested following a late night bust-up outside a pub, seems to have sobered up his team mates.
England cricketers landed in Australia and decided on self-policing in the series starting on November 23. They have taken a pledge not to drink from 2-3 days before a match and also honour an informal curfew. And players have agreed to inform security officers and allow them to provide an escort if any player leaves the team hotel after dinner.
England coach Trevor Bayliss’ lenient approach on players has been questioned in the wake of the Stokes incident. His team mate Alex Hales was with the allrounder when the incident happened outside a Bristol pub in September.
Bayliss felt no stringent regulation can work unless players show discipline. “It doesn’t matter if you have rules and regulations and curfews. In the end, it’s the players’ own choice, whether they break a rule or work things out for themselves.
“The players have sat down, had a bit of a chat and come up with a few small rules and regulations, and a belief or agreement among themselves that they will be doing the right thing and looking after themselves,” he was quoted as saying by The Tele- graph, London.
Bayliss said it was impractical to expect the players to stay off drink for the entire tour. “There will be times when they are able to go out and have a few beers. It’s a long tour; you can’t be cooped up in a hotel room for four months. It’s a case of being sensible and professional…”
Stokes was charged with caus- ing actual bodily harm to a person outside a pub in Bristol on September 24. He was handed an indefinite ban by the England Cricket Board after a video of his having an altercation with another person emerged. Bayliss said: “One of the things is reinforcing that if they do go out, they need to let security know where they’re going.”