Player curfews not to England coach’s liking
BAYLISS HAPPY TO HAVE STOKES AS VICE-CAPTAIN FOR ASHES
ngland coach Trevor Bayliss was cautious about imposing player curfews during the upcoming Ashes tour of Australia in a bid to prevent the sort of incident that saw star allrounder Ben Stokes arrested.
Stokes was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm in Bristol and dropped for yesterday’s fourth One-day International against West Indies at The Oval.
Stokes broke his hand in the incident that took place around 2:35am local time (0135 GMT) in Bristol on Monday following England’s 124-run win in Sunday’s third ODI in the southwest city.
The 26-year-old remains under investigation after being released without charge.
Nevertheless, he was included in England’s 16-man Ashes squad announced at The Oval before Wednesday’s match.
Stokes also retained his position as England’s Test vice-captain in a squad where Joe Root remains the skipper despite an incident that saw a 27-year-old man taken to hospital with facial injuries.
“What he has shown so far for us is that he is a leader within the group when it comes to cricket,” Bayliss told Sky Sports.
“There is no denying that but I’m sure there will be some investigations going forward,” the Australian added.
“But at the moment I am quite happy for him to be the vice-captain.
The incident led to questions over whether England should impose a curfew during the Ashes. “Certainly we will be looking into that,” said Bayliss, although the former New South Wales and Sri Lanka coach indicated he was no fan of curfews.
“I have been with teams before and we have had curfews and that doesn’t work either,” Bayliss explained. “They are adults and Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Jake Ball, Craig Overton, Mason Crane, Ben Foakes
Fixtures
Nov 04-05: v Western Australia XI, Perth Nov 08-11: v Cricket Australia XI, Adelaide Nov 15-18 v Cricket Australia XI, Townsville (d/n) Nov 23-27: 1ST TEST v AUSTRALIA, Brisbane Dec 02-06: 2ND TEST v AUSTRALIA, Adelaide (d/n) Dec 09-10: v Cricket Australia XI, Perth Dec 14-18: 3RD TEST v AUSTRALIA, Perth Dec 26-30 4TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Melbourne Jan 04-08: 5TH TEST, Sydney they have to take responsibility. They are professionals.”
Meanwhile, England Ian Botham suggested follow his example by the “bat-cave club”.
As Stokes is now, Botham was the most high-profile England all-rounder of his generation and no stranger to off-field controversy. During England’s all-conquering Ashes tour of Australia in 1986-87, Botham decided the best way to avoid trouble was by creating a “batcave”, a suite in the team hotel where he could invite friends, rather than run the risk of a night out. great Stokes joining