Stokes will need to regain team-mates’ respect, says Ponting

Ricky Ponting expects Ben Stokes will be a changed man when he returns to England’s Test team.

It has become increasingly unlikely of late that Stokes will be back in the fold midAshes, as he waits to discover whether the Crown Prosecution Service will advise police to charge him following his arrest in September after a latenight fracas in Bristol.

While Stokes instead prepares to return to the middle tomorrow for the first time since then for Canterbury Kings, in his native Christchurch, Ponting speaks from personal experience about the impact a similarly enforced absence once had on him.

Australia batsman Ponting was suspended for three oneday internationals after trouble on a night out in 1999, at 24.

He returned knowing he needed to earn back the respect of his team-mates and senses all-rounder Stokes may well feel the same when his turn comes to rejoin England.

“It just won’t be on-field stuff that he has to prove,” said Ponting. “He has to prove the off-field stuff ’s different. He has to show them that he’s different to what he was before this incident happened.”

England are not about to forget that Stokes is a brilliant player, of course. “They all know what he can do on the field, and he’s the heartbeat of their team,” added Ponting.

“That won’t change – and they’ll respect him as a player. But he’ll have to gain their respect back from what he does off the field and what sort of person he is around the team.”

Ponting cites his ban as the turning point in his career.

“My first game back... I was a different person and a better player,” he said.