BEN: NO REGRETS
Beaten Stokes stands by his England decisions
BEN STOKES blamed his team’s lack of ruthlessness for a bruising fourwicket defeat by West Indies.
But the stand-in England skipper said he had no regrets from his one Test in charge. Stokes will hand the reins back to Joe Root in Manchester later this
week with the team 1-0 down with two Tests to play.
But whether it was his decision to bat first under heavy skies or the call to leave out Stuart Broad in favour of extra pace, Stokes did not back down.
He said: “I don’t have any regrets.
“I stand by our decision to bat first but we weren’t ruthless enough to make our batting innings count.
“We’ve got to be good enough to bat first and put the runs on the board. We got into positions to kick on in the first innings but we didn’t manage to grasp the game.
“We base our Test cricket on big first-innings runs and we didn’t make the most of our chances in either the first or second innings with the bat.
“We can identify where we need to be more ruthless but how else are you supposed to learn? You need to have moments like these to understand how we are to progress as players.”
Broad gave a passionate interview after his axing for this game and he may feature at Old Trafford on the back of this defeat, something in which Stokes will not be involved.
“It is not my call next week,” he added. “I’ve loved this week as captain.
“It comes with its stresses and I found that the night before the final day when I didn’t sleep too well.
“You make decisions and you have to stand by them and I’m not the sort of person to regret them.
“We went with the extra pace in this game and I thought that the interview Broady gave was outstanding because it shows how much it all still means to him.
“It is Joe’s team and he is a big miss when he doesn’t play and I welcome him back, with me slotting back into the team. Good luck Joe.”