Warner places blame on Ben
DAVID WARNER believes Ben Stokes has let his country down with the temper explosion that has made him the nowhere man of English cricket.
Stokes made a rare appearance on social media yesterday to fire up at Matt Hayden saying he did not know half of the English squad and that “the Poms are a rabble’’.
There have been rumours in England that Stokes will be charged this week by Somerset and Devon police over an incident in which he punched a man outside an English hotel in Bristol in September.
“I think it’s probably disappointing for the England team and the country,’’ said Warner, who once himself threw a punch at England’s Joe Root ahead of the 2013 Ashes.
“He’s let a lot of people down. I would have loved for him to be out here because I know what a competitor he is on the field. He is a world- class player. But at the end of the day we’ve got another 11 guys that will take the Thursday.’’
Stokes fired back at Hayden’s taunt, claiming only two of the English team had not played international cricket, adding “he’s a cricket pundit yeah?’’
Debate rages over whether Stokes would make the tour but former captain Alastair Cook said England were planning for life without him.
“Since we have arrived here, we have pretty much accepted it would be very unlikely that Ben would be here,” he said. field come