Bowler may face action for giving centurion a ‘send off ’

Shannon Gabriel could face disciplinary action from the match referee for appearing to give Ben Stokes a send off after dismissing him for 100.

Stokes turned around and stared at Gabriel as he walked off after appearing to hear something being said to him. South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada was suspended for one Test earlier this summer after punishment from the match referee for giving Stokes a send off at Lord’s that took him over the disciplinary points threshold for a ban. The International Cricket Council has cracked down on send offs over the last year.

Gabriel had dropped an absolute dolly off Stokes a few moments earlier when he was on 98, a shot Stokes described as a “brain fart”. Stokes has history of run-ins with West Indian players, having clashed with Marlon Samuels down the years.

“It is not the first time, it is part of the game,” said Stokes about Gabriel. “He was probably a little bit annoyed at dropping it on 98. There is nothing to it. It is international sport. It’s part of the game.”

Stokes admitted England did not enjoy one of their “best days with the bat” and the West Indies bowling, if not their catching, made it a hard day for the home side.

Stokes added: “I had to change my normal approach when I went in. I went deep in my crease or down the wicket to change the length they were bowling but on a slow wicket you had to be 100 per cent committed to shots, not halfhearted or you could skew them to point or slip.”

He also paid tribute to captain Joe Root, who equalled AB de Villiers’ record of scoring at least a half-century in 12 successive Tests.

“The captaincy hasn’t affected his run-scoring whatsoever, in fact it’s probably made him into a better player if that was possible,” said Stokes. “There are guys around the world who are known as the best in world and we’ve got one of them, if not the best.”

Gabriel’s selection injected pace into the West Indies’ attack and there was a huge improvement from their performance at Edgbaston. Bowler Kemar Roach said: “Yes, we had very open discussion and team meetings. The guys were totally honest with themselves. We were not good enough in the first Test and we have a point to prove in this Test. And we are going to stand up as well as we can.”