CRUEL’ TO KEATON

ENGLAND’S selectors have been blasted for the ‘cruel’ selection of Keaton Jennings in the third Test after he was dismissed for a woeful eight on day one.

Jennings (right) could have been dismissed THREE times by the time he had made just three before actually going on to be caught at slip off Jason Holder’s replacement Keemo Paul.

And having watched the 26-yearold being put out of his misery thanks to another awkward drive, former England and do things his way. In many ways he was the first kind of all-rounder who took such a positive attitude with everything he did.”

And yet as Stokes aims to make as big an impact as possible on the third and final Test in St Lucia after passing a fitness test on his bruised right heel his high-octane match-winning prowess has only been seen fleetingly in recent times.

There were brief moments of success in Sri Lanka, most notably with 99 runs and four wickets in the match in Colombo, plus plenty of catches at slip off the spinners. But he has not quite found the form or the consistency he had before being cleared of assault following a violent incident in Bristol in September 2017.

And until he starts to dominate series in the way that Sir Beefy did, there will only be one name next to the title of England’s greatest all-rounder.

Sir Viv said: “Stokes may have a bit more pace than Beefy and he may bat a bit longer than Beefy did at times but Beefy just got the job done.

“Beefy won a lot of matches and created an aura around him so that other teams were worried about him.

“Stokes has had some success in his career so far but he is yet to dominate a series or a few teams in the way that Beefy did. That will come if he stays fit and trusts his talent because he has a lot of ability, that is for sure.

“Beefy was so special and I consider him to be the leader when it comes to English all-rounders. Everyone that comes after is compared to him, whether it is Freddie Flintoff or Ben Stokes, but there will only ever be one Beefy.” captain Nasser Hussain took aim at skipper Joe Root, coach Trevor Bayliss and hands on selector Ed Smith.

“The thing you forget the most when you go up in the commentary box is how you feel when you’re out of nick,” said the Sky Sports pundit.

“This lad is now horribly out of form. What England have done there is almost, to a degree, cruel to him. It was an absolute horror show.“