England’s delight as Ben’s back in the fold
There could not have been a more low- key way for Ben Stokes to rejoin england yesterday after a tumultuous winter in which they were thrashed in the Ashes without him.
It was just after 6pm here in hamilton when Stokes strode through the door of the team hotel to resume a career that was interrupted by his late-night fracas in Bristol last September.
A welcoming party of team manager Phil Neale, stand-in media manager henry Cowen and security guard Sam Dickason met Stokes at Auckland Airport.
Only 10 or so camera crews and journalists were at the airport with Stokes, who had travelled from Bristol Magistrates Court via heathrow, Abu Dhabi and Melbourne, just uttering ‘yes’ when asked if he was happy to be back with the team.
Just Liam Plunkett, who has been ruled out of the rest of england’s white-ball tour with a hamstring injury, David Willey and his five-month-old son and physio Craig de Weymarn were in the lobby to greet him while five english journalists had been told Stokes would not be talking.
‘he’s a great cricketer for england so the sooner he’s back the better,’ said Willey, summing up the mood in the england camp. ‘It’s great that he’s coming back among the lads and we’re all delighted to have him back.’
The only real reception came in the form of a team gathering to watch New Zealand’s remarkable Twenty20 encounter against Australia at eden Park. Australia overtook New Zealand’s mammoth 243 for six with seven balls in hand in a record chase that just about keeps england’s triseries hopes alive. Tomorrow’s final qualifying game here now becomes a winner-takes-all affair, with england needing to win and win well against New Zealand to advance to Wednesday’s final against Australia in Auckland.
For now, there was another england player causing more of a stir than Stokes — Adil rashid, who had announced he was turning his back on red-ball cricket.
‘It’s just the way the game seems to be going and these Twenty20 competitions are appealing to people not only for the cricket but also financially,’ said Willey.
‘There comes a time when you have to make decisions for yourself and your family.
‘It’s probably nearly impossible to play Tests when you’re playing so much white-ball cricket. It’s a little bit different this summer because we’re available for a few more games but in the last couple of years it’s been pretty much impossible to string a lot of red-ball games together.
‘If you’re only playing two or three games a year you’re probably not making much of a contribution to a Championship title challenge and you’re certainly not going to be able to push for Test cricket so if you are in that position you’re probably thinking, “What am I playing it for?” ’