Stokes is written off
got a clue,” he said. “It’s totally out of our hands. We have just got on with preparing as best we can.
“The players have a very important, tough series coming up and they are totally focused on winning it. They are concentrating on playing without him. We can’t worry about something we can’t control.
“We have time to smooth things out and find the right combination.
“We certainly wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think we could win without him.”
The focus on Stokes threatens to undermine England’s preparations for the Ashes, which start with a two-day tour match against a Western Australian XI at the WACA in Perth on Saturday.
Even without Stokes, Bayliss, above, remains confident in England’s ability.
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Qty ENGLAND’S players have put in place a self-imposed booze ban in the run-up to matches on this Ashes tour following the off-field controversy that tainted the end of the summer.
Ben Stokes is absent in Australia because he is still the subject of an ongoing police investigation into a late-night altercation in Bristol during the one-day series against West Indies.
Regardless of the outcome of that process, the England management were unhappy that several other players not caught up in the incident were on a night out midway through a series.
Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball and Liam Plunkett were all fined and given written warnings for “unprofessional conduct” following an internal investigation into behaviour within the one-day squad.
That led to Test captain Joe Root and the rest of the Ashes squad coming up with a code of conduct – since written down to underline its importance – during a summit meeting with director of cricket
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