STOKES SCARE
Captain unwell and misses practice ++ Root is ready to lead side ++ Trescothick tests positive
England were given a fright ahead of tomorrow’s third Test when captain Ben Stokes missed yesterday’s practice at Headingley after feeling unwell.
Stokes stayed at home while England began preparations for their attempt to complete a 3-0 whitewash against new Zealand, but joined up with his team last night at their leeds hotel.
England are confident Stokes, who tested negative for Covid yesterday, will be fit to play at the ground where he pulled off the Miracle of Headingley against australia three years ago. But batting coach Marcus Trescothick has tested positive and will miss the Test.
England have a relaxed approach to the virus now, so Stokes is unlikely to be tested again today. The captain himself joked at the second Test toss: ‘If you’re not tested, you can’t be positive.’
England have declined to name a vice-captain, but should Stokes not recover in time, it is expected former captain Joe Root would step in to lead the team just two Tests after quitting.
Other captaincy candidates include Stuart Broad and Jimmy anderson, and Harry Brook stands by to make his debut on his home ground.
SO, this third test is what the fuss was essentially all about. the game between england and new Zealand that Yorkshire were desperate to keep through fear of financial ruin when they were stripped of international status in the wake of the azeem rafiq racism scandal.
Yorkshire retained tomorrow’s game — and the one-day international against South africa next month — when they promised drastic reform, with not even rafiq wanting them to lose the fixtures and threaten the future of the game in england’s biggest cricketing county. But at what cost? For this test will be played out against the backdrop of the biggest scandal in even Yorkshire’s troubled history, with the embattled county seemingly making one wrong turn after another in their desperate attempt to put things right.
Truly, it is hard to imagine what more Yorkshire could have done to muck up this whole sorry affair. if you had asked them to make as many bad decisions as possible in the aim of causing maximum chaos then they could not have done a better job of it.
There was the complete mishandling of rafiq’s allegations from the moment they were made public last year when Yorkshire just tried to sweep the whole business under the carpet and hoped it would go away.
Then, when it became clear they could not, there was the sorry sight of former chairman robin Smith doing everything he could to cover his own back in front of MPs when cricket got dragged to parliament before trying to undermine his successor, Lord Patel.
Not that Patel has covered himself in glory either. the drastic decision to sack 16 members of staff who had signed a letter imploring them to take a firmer stance against rafiq’s allegations of institutionalised racism risks Yorkshire losing millions in compensation. now the club and seven people, including former england captain Michael vaughan and current player gary Ballance, whose future in the game is uncertain because of long-term mental health issues, face eCB charges of bringing the game into disrepute.
And the long-feared exodus of players, despite the best efforts of two of the good guys in interim managing director Darren gough and coach Ottis gibson, may have started with the departures of David Willey to northants and tom Kohler-Cadmore to Somerset.
You would think, with such a backdrop, Yorkshire would have launched a major public-relations assault ahead of this game. to try to show they really are changing and that they are worthy of protecting the heritage of this great old county and ground. not a bit of it.
Not yet anyway. all was
quiet at Headingley yesterday while the two teams went about their practice. No word from any spinning communications staff and no sign of Lord Patel to make a rare appearance to try to convince us he knows what he is doing.
The cricket will probably be compelling — it usually is at Headingley — but otherwise all continues to be rotten at the heart of Yorkshire cricket. With no end in sight to the turmoil.
TRAIN strikes threaten to affect the crowd at the third Test despite good sales for the first four days. But there was one enterprising move yesterday and it came not from Yorkshire but the Barmy army. They launched a Twitter appeal asking to hear from those planning to drive to Leeds who could help stranded ticket-holders. They received an excellent response, too, with people from all over the country offering spare car seats. The Barmies can get a bad press but they do a lot of good for charity on tour and for England fans.