STOKES SHOCK AS STAR PULLS OUT OF TESTS
ENGLISh cricket was in shock last night when Ben Stokes pulled out of the marquee Test series against India and took an ‘indefinite break’ from the game.
Stokes, 30, will miss at least the first two Tests at Trent Bridge and Lord’s to ‘prioritise his mental wellbeing’ and rest the left index finger that was badly broken in his first game for Rajasthan Royals in this year’s Indian Premier League.
England admitted in a statement that the finger, injured in April when he dropped a catch offered by Chris Gayle, has not fully healed since Stokes was rushed back ahead of schedule earlier this month to captain an emergency one-day side to a 3-0 victory against Pakistan.
And, as he was replaced in England’s 17-man squad by Craig Overton for a first Test that begins on Wednesday, team director Ashley Giles offered his full support to a talismanic figure who has suffered extreme highs and lows throughout his career.
‘Ben has shown tremendous courage to open up about his feelings and wellbeing,’ said Giles. ‘Our primary focus has always been and will continue to be the mental health and welfare of all of our people.
‘The demands on our athletes to prepare and play elite sport are relentless in a typical environment but the ongoing pandemic has compounded this.
‘Spending significant time away from family, with minimal freedoms, is extremely challenging. The cumulative effect of operating almost continuously in these environments over the last 16 months has had a major impact on everyone’s wellbeing.’
There were perhaps signs that all was not well with Stokes in his two appearances for his hundred side Northern Superchargers before he withdrew from the new competition seemingly to meet up with England today in Nottingham.
he was twice out cheaply, appeared to be having trouble gripping his bat and dropped what by his standards was a regulation catch to reprieve Alex hales in the outfield. his bowling, however, seemed to have been unaffected by the injury.
It’s the latest stunning development in a career full of emotional ups and downs, from the depths of being arrested for his part in a brawl in Bristol four years ago to the extraordinary highs of playing a defining role in winning the 2019 World Cup and that year’s Ashes Test at headingley.
Then Stokes produced another match-winning performance early in 2020 in Cape Town but that tour was played out against the backdrop of his father Ged falling seriously ill after travelling to
South Africa to support his son. Stokes was given compassionate leave by England that year to travel to his family home in New Zealand to be with his father while he battled brain cancer before he passed away in December. Stokes also missed the tour of Sri Lanka before Christmas. Stokes, who spent several months recovering from a similarly bad break to his right index finger earlier in his career, feels the need to take further time out and could miss the whole of a five-Test series that concludes in Manchester next month. But he has told those close to him that he hopes to return in time for October’s Twenty20 World Cup and the Ashes in November. At a time when there is more emphasis and understanding of mental-health issues in sport than ever before, he will not be rushed by England.
‘Ben will be given as long as he needs,’ added Giles.
The Stokes bombshell dropped as fears grew over this winter’s Ashes tour. England admitted yesterday that their players could refuse to go to Australia if they can’t take their families with them.
The daunting prospect of a postponement of the biggest Test series of them all increased when the ECB released a joint statement with the Professional Cricketers’ Association that cranked up the pressure on Australia.
‘We are all committed to putting player and staff welfare as the main priority and finding the right solutions that enable the England team to compete with the best players, and at the highest possible standard that the Ashes deserves,’ read the statement.
That was a clear warning that the Ashes will be in jeopardy unless concessions are made over the draconian Covid regulations in Australia that, if enforced in November, would mean the players spending up to four months without their families.
England opener Rory Burns yesterday became the first player to speak out about the issue when he revealed the apprehension within the team.
‘It’s a tough one,’ said Burns, who pulled out of last winter’s tour of Sri Lanka to be at the birth of his daughter Cora.
‘There hasn’t been much information yet, so it’s hard to say whether I would or wouldn’t go. All I know is that it’s asking a lot of people to leave their families for four months.’