KP advises Stokes against touring Oz
Former cricketer Kevin Pietersen said that as much as he likes to see Ben Stokes ‘smash it’ on the field, he has advised the suspended England vice-captain against travelling to Australia for the upcoming Ashes 2017-18.
Stokes is currently on an indefinite suspension handed by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), after he was arrested for a night causing bodily harm to a man outside a Bristol nightclub Mbargo. Along with Stokes, Alex Hales was also suspended indefinitely.
According to cricket.com.au, Pietersen told The Sunday Times, “I can hardly watch the bit at the end, it is horrendous. That 45-second video is brutal. The more you watch it the more shocking it is. I have watched it with some influential leaders in business and the general view was, ‘you cannot represent your country with a video like that going around’. It is a view I agree with. Whether you like it or not, you become someone that people look up to. Someone that kids look up to. You cannot play for your country if you carry on like that. You cannot represent that badge. The more that you watch that video, the worse it gets.”
The former England captain says Australia will not be an ideal place for Stokes right now.
“Australia is a hostile place and I don’t think with his personality, at least from what we have seen, I just don’t think it will work in Australia. Not this time. I wanted to look for excuses because I like Stokesy and love watching him smash it,” he said.
STARC WANTS FANS TO RUFFLE STOKES
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc has urged Australian fans to “get stuck into” England bad boy Ben Stokes if he makes the trip for the upcoming Ashes, calling for them to be “very loud”.
“I guess I’d love if he was out here. I’d love for the Australian crowd to get stuck into him the way the Poms (English) get stuck into our blokes over there.