BAR BRAWL WAS A TURNING PONT
Stokes has learned from his mistakes like ex-Aussie skipper, says Lloyd
BEN STOKES has been backed to make a huge success of his time as England captain after turning his life around like Ricky Ponting.
While there have been many comparisons between Stokes and previous skippers Sir Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff, it is an Aussie great who is providing clues for former England player and coach
David Lloyd.
More affectionately known as ‘Bumble’, Lloyd has seen everything there is to see in the game as player, coach, umpire and commentator over more than 50 years.
And he reckons Stokes’s brush with the law in Bristol and subsequent heroics on the field mirror those of Ponting, who was knocked unconscious in a Sydney bar fight as a 24-year-old, faced up to his demons and went on to become a deadset legend of the game.
“Stokes will do a brilliant job,” said 73-year-old
Lloyd from his home near Old Trafford.
“He’ll be excellent.
“He is a thoroughly impressive bloke and I just sense that they are all going to play for him and they are all going to jump through hoops for him. “Without going over Bristol, that was a real turning point in his life.
“It is very similar to Ricky Ponting in Sydney. Ricky changed and became a wonderful captain and wonderful player and a real decent bloke. I see that in Stokes.” Neither Botham nor Flintoff had a great time as England captain, although there was a brief high for Flintoff when he helped secured a draw in India at the outset before things went downhill.
And Lloyd, who was Flintoff’s coach at Lancashire and then gave him his first England cap, doesn’t think Stokes will struggle the way they did. “Stokes is a different animal to the other two all rounders, he is ultra-fit,” he added. “But I can see the comparison.
“Beefy had it briefly and it was a disaster. With Andrew he didn’t need the burden. As captain there is a lot of discipline required and at the time in the case of both Andrew and Beefy you would say there wasn’t much discipline.”
Bumble will watch the first Test from home before joining a socially-distanced commentary box at Old Trafford for the next two.
Sky Sports will bring innovations to the coverage with camera angles and player access. They are employing a low level ‘Lord’s hum’ when it comes to crowd noise but there won’t be cheers at wickets or boundaries. Lloyd, left, added: “I was apprehensive at first, but I’m comfortable now and I want to do my bit. I feel like I’ve got an obligation to the public.
“I’m in the vulnerable category, but I’ve got no underlying health problems apart from being crackers!”