Coach backs rapid Stokes return
England cricket coach Trevor Bayliss has welcomed Ben Stokes’ imminent arrival in New Zealand and believes he’ll be quickly up to speed for a return during the oneday international series.
The 26-year-old star allrounder pleaded not guilty to a charge of affray in Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, was granted bail and will face a jury trial in the city’s Crown Court starting on March 12.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed Stokes would fly to New Zealand immediately, arriving in Auckland on Friday, and would not be required to return to England for the opening day of the trial.
He won’t be considered for Sunday’s Twenty20 international against the Black Caps in Hamilton and Bayliss said he was ‘‘unlikely’’ for the five-match ODI series opener at the same venue a week later.
Bayliss said they hadn’t discussed trying to secure match practice for Stokes - who returned to his city of birth to play six times for Canterbury in December - and a call on his return would be made on net form. Stokes scored one half-century - 93 off 47 balls against Otago - and took three wickets in all.‘ ‘In the past he’s been out with injuries and come back sooner than we think. That’s the type of character he is and it doesn’t take him long at all to get back up to speed,’’ Bayliss said in Wellington, after his side’s 12-run T20 defeat to New Zealand.
‘‘He’s been indoors doing plenty in the last month or two, so it’s not as if he’s been doing absolutely nothing - it’ll be case of getting him on turf wickets and a few outdoor nets.’’
Bayliss said they wanted to get Stokes to New Zealand as soon as possible after his court appearance to assess his form. He was unsure when Stokes would have to return to England, as the two tests loom in Auckland starting on March 22 and Christchurch starting on March 30.
He hasn’t played an international since September 24 when he scored 72 against West Indies in Bristol, then a few hours later was involved in a fight outside a nightclub in which a 27-year-old man allegedly suffered a fractured eye socket. Two other men appeared alongside Stokes on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty, with all three granted bail.
Every cricketer needs a dose of luck. Even New Zealand’s best batsman.
So when Kane Williamson pushed one awkwardly to the right of England bowler Mark Wood first ball and took off, all he could do was close his eyes and hope, early in Tuesday night’s tri-series
Twenty20 international in Wellington.
Wood took aim at all three stumps and missed, with Williamson well short. He completed the run, his first of a powerful 72 off 46 balls which earned him man of the match in New Zealand’s 12-run win. Williamson even added a brilliant run out of his own, when he got airborne and hit the stumps with James Vince short of his ground.
‘‘It just happens, doesn’t it? I thought it was going to roll a bit further and then it didn’t and I was like, oh no. That was nice, sometimes you get a bit of luck which is good in cricket,’’ Williamson said.
Not that Williamson wanted to leave his fate in someone else’s hands as his Black Caps arrived on a three-match losing streak, in which he’d posted single figure scores in all three. He’d also struggled with a back niggle in the leadup.
‘‘You try not to rely on luck. You train hard and practice your plans and you want to go out and perform every day. As we know that doesn’t happen, especially in
T20 cricket where you’re expected to play that high risk game and you throw in some challenging surfaces as well at times. That’s all a factor. It’s about trying to keep a mindset to play for the team as best you can.’’
It was a bizarre day that ended in a cracking finish, as New Zealand’s 196-5 was enough to quell England who crashed to a threematch losing streak of their own.
Earlier Williamson and coach Mike Hesson gazed at the Westpac Stadium pitch with some trepidation with half of it bereft of grass and widespread concern about how it would play.
But the patchy surface and lack of grass - due to disease and Wellington’s scorching summer - was no problem and New Zealand equalled their own T20 international ground record of 196-5 against Pakistan two years ago.
‘‘It [pitch] didn’t look pretty but it played a lot better than that, which was a good thing. It’s one of those ones like Sydney which was a tough surface and it was tricky to know what a good score was,’’ Williamson said. ‘‘But it was a very good surface and you could see that after the first over or two.’’
Martin Guptill took to Adil Rashid’s legspin with the slog sweep and scored 65 off 40 balls and with a platform, debutants Mark Chapman (20 off 13) and Tim Seifert (13 not out off six) each cleared the rope twice in handy cameos fulfilling their job descriptions well.
‘‘They added a lot of energy which was great. Sometimes off a few losses that can add benefit and they came in with limited opportunity but the way they approached their innings and performed, they were outstanding to get us an above par total was brilliant to see.’’
England now need a miracle to make next Wednesday’s final, and even more than that if the Black Caps can back up and beat Australia in Auckland’ tomorrow.
After defeats in Hobart and Melbourne, England had a quick turnaround and their bowlers started poorly as Williamson and Guptill got away.
Skipper Joe Buttler, standing in again for the injured Eoin Morgan (groin), rued that early missed chance against Williamson.
‘‘They’re such fine margins in a game of cricket and that’s always the way it goes. That bit of luck for Kane and he goes on to become man of the match. It’s be nice to have taken that chance but the game is defined by fine margins.’’
Alex Hales (47 off 24) and Dawid Malan (59 off 40) made it a tense race before the spin of Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner removed each.