Bayliss says Ashes squad have not been distracted by Stokes incident
● England coach is expecting fan abuse ● Tour opens with two-dayer in Perth
Trevor Bayliss is confident England’s minds are uncluttered by the Ben Stokes debacle as they prepare for the imminent Ashes challenge without their match-winning all-rounder.
Stokes is back in England, awaiting news on whether he will be charged over an incident last month that saw him arrested by Avon and Somerset Police and placed under investigation on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm.
A Cricket Discipline Commission inquiry will follow, under England and Wales Cricket Board policy, all of which indicates a timeline to prevent Stokes joining the 16-man squad at any point during a series which ends in Sydney on 8 January.
As England settle in Perth, where they will open their campaign with a two-day tour match against a Western Australia XI, coach Bayliss acknowledged it had been a “difficult” past month since Stokes’s arrest in Bristol in the early hours of 25 September.
The Australian referred, with a smile, to the impact on his own best-laid plans but also clarified that the situation has not led to any raft of new management directives about off-field behaviour.
“I’ve been on a plane for about half of that [past month], backwards and forwards to England,” Bayliss told the BBC’S Test Match Special.
“Obviously, at the end of the season, it was a difficult time for everyone. I suppose that comes with the territory.
“It involves everyone, not just the one or two guys that were involved on that night.
“But it’s a month ago now, and certainly the guys here... have been going about their business, and there hasn’t been any chat about it at all.”
Stokes’ absence is felt, of course, and will continue to be – but England will not fret about circumstances beyond their control. Bayliss added: “Everyone’s been concentrating on what we need to do to win this series.
“You lose a player of Ben’s calibre, and it will make a bit of a difference. So we’re going to have to work out a different combination for the first Test... and we’ve got three games to sort that out. I’m quite confident we can come up with a team that’s more than capable of winning.”
The players themselves have worked out if they need to do anything differently off the pitch.
Bayliss said: “There’s been no set curfews... I think they’re just sensible rulings, to me what we should have been sticking to anyway as a player or someone around a professional set-up.
“To me, not drinking in-between matches is just sensible.
“The players have sat down and had a chat, and they’re the ones who’ve come up with it.
“We certainly don’t want to put too many curfews that keep them in their rooms, because it is a long tour – you’ve got to get out and experience what they’ve got to offer in the country you’re touring.
“It’s about picking the right time to have a couple of drinks, but knowing when to stay away from it when you’re preparing for a match.”
Stokes’ strife is bound to provide extra material for hosts accustomed to coming up with verbal distractions for their opponents and Bayliss knows what Joe Root’s team should expect not just from their opposite numbers but the whole Australian nation.
“I suppose we’ll be on the other end of some of the sledging,” he said. “You’ve just got to realise, when you come here, you’re not playing 11 – you’re playing 24 million.”