Leave him out to avoid circus

IT’S right that Ben Stokes is available for selection. He’s been found not guilty in a court of law, and has already been punished from a cricketing perspective by missing the Ashes. How many more times should the events of last September be held against him? And why should the ECB pre-empt the decision of the cricket discipline commission by ruling him persona non grata for Trent Bridge? Having said that, I wouldn’t pick him — not just yet, anyway. He’s just been through a traumatic week in which his future must have flashed before his eyes. He may be physically fit, but what about his state of mind? Then there is the question of who would miss out. Stokes’s fellow all-rounders, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes, were man of the match at Edgbaston and Lord’s. England will want a spinner, so they can hardly drop Adil Rashid. And vice-captain Jos Buttler has the team’s third-highest Test average this summer. Dropping a batsman would make little sense either: England have just beaten India without Stokes in the equivalent of two days. It all adds up to quietly giving him a breather, and avoiding the inevitable circus that would ensue if he were chosen.