England plan to douse Stokes’ fire

BEN Stokes will be given as much exposure as possible by England in a bid to help him to learn how to handle his temper.

England have a punishing schedule over the next 10 months and an allrounder such as Stokes, who plays in all formats, faces a huge workload.

After the current test, one-day international and T20 series, England against New Zealand, followed by the Ashes and another five ODIs and more T20 cricket against Australia.

They then fly to the United Arab Emirates to play five ODIs and three tests against Pakistan.

The players will have only two weeks at home before touring South Africa for four tests and more ODIs from mid-December to the end of February.

It ends with the Twenty20 World Cup in India in March.

Stokes will expect to be rested at some point but England intend to play him as much as possible to give him the experience of handling tense situations better than he has in the past. While his performance against New Zealand at Lord’s was breathtaking, it was a match played in a friendly spirit with mutual respect between the two teams.

England know that Australia will try to capitalise on Stokes’ temper this summer while Pakistan and South Africa will also throw up situations similar to the one he faced in the Caribbean with Marlon Samuels, who managed to get under his skin. Stokes’ performance levels dipped and other opponents will try to wind him up.

Joe Root, his England teammate, said: “He is growing up. He makes mistakes now and again but that is why he is the player he is. He is aggressive, he is always in your face, I’m not saying off the field, but that’s his personality.

“For him it is about making sure he can control it in a way that makes him more consistent. The thing about Ben is, every time he pulls on the shirt he gives absolutely everything. I don’t think that is going to change.

“He is one of those blokes you want in the side because he rubs off on you and gives everything.”

Root showed his cheeky sense of humour by imitating Samuels’ salute of Stokes when the Durham allrounder reached his century at Lords on Monday.

Winning always helps to make a team looked relaxed but caretaker coach Paul Farbrace has encouraged players to concentrate on skills rather than just hard work, and the performance at Lord’s was the most dynamic by England for years. — © The