Pleased to take advice

FRATERNISING with the enemy may be frowned upon in some sporting circles.

However, England’s Ben Stokes admits he was happy to take tips from Australia captain Steve Smith during the Indian Premier League.

Come November 23 at The Gabba, the pair will be on opposite sides of cricket’s oldest rivalry, competing in the first Test of the Ashes.

However, for much of the last six weeks, they have been sharing the Rising Pune Supergiant’s dressing-room.

Stokes was named the competition’s most valuable player after scoring 316 runs and taking 12 wickets for the runners-up but was happy to accept advice from an unlikely Antipodean ally in the nets.

“Once you get in the same team together you obviously want the same goal, which is to win, and if a guy wants to improve on something and another guy has a tip that can help they are obviously going to share that with you,” said Stokes, England’s Test vice-captain.

“I remember doing a batting session with some power hitting towards the end where the guy I will be playing against in the Ashes (Smith) was helping me, which is something you would never be able to fathom when you are playing against each other.

“From the hype around England against Australia, then playing alongside him, it was really good.

“You have two guys who are going to play each other, who want to be winning, who end up working together. The IPL is probably the only place you get that.”