England in a real spin as ‘frustrated’ Stokes rues batting collapse

Ben Stokes admitted England fell 100 runs short of expectations on the first day of the series decider against India following another chastening encounter with spin in Ahmedabad.

The tourists had the chance to banish the memories of their two-day defeat at the same venue last week, winning the toss and finding batting conditions to be less extreme than they had expected.

But although the ball was not fizzing and turning or skidding unpredictably off the pitch, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel still found a way to run through the order, sharing seven more wickets as England were felled for 205.

India had time to reach 24 for one in reply but Stokes, who top-scored with 55, was honest enough to accept an opportunity had slipped through his side’s fingers.

“We should still be batting,” was his succinct summary.

“I think we’ll look back on that and be disappointed by some of the batting. We’re more than capable of scoring more than 300 on a wicket like that out here, it’s frustrating.

“We sit down as a group and say we’ll try to put it (the previous game) behind us but that’s easier said than done. I know, overall, it’s a much better wicket than the last one we played on so we’re just disappointed not to still be batting.

“I feel very frustrated that I spent two-and-ahalf hours trying to avoid getting out to a straight ball then I ended up getting out to a straight ball.”

Stokes had plenty on his mind at the time. Not only had he emerged as his side’s leading light with the bat, he had been battling the symptoms of a stomach bug and was also pencilled in to open the bowling after a selection gamble left England with James Anderson as a lone frontline paceman.

He was clearly feeling under the weather and was worryingly non-committal about his prospects of reaching 100% in the coming days.

“I’ll tell you the truth, I’ll just have to wait and see, day by day,” was the best he could offer.

Stokes was part of the decision-making group which hashed out England’s surprising team-sheet, which included Dan Lawrence as a specialist batsman at number seven and hinted at plenty of work for the 38-year-old Anderson, and painted it a logical consequence of their previous defeat rather than a drastic reaction.

“I think if you look at the scorecard from the last Test match it will probably give you all the answers that you need,” he said.

Stokes also sought to suck any drama out of an early exchange of words with home captain Virat Kohli.

“It’s two professionals showing they care about the sport that they love,” he said. “A lot gets said these days when two guys seem to come to words out in the middle. There was completely nothing untoward, just two blokes who don’t back down.”

The first tranche of the 2.6 million tickets available for the 2023 World Cup in France will go on sale on March 15.

Fans who have registered to join the ‘2023 Family’ scheme by March 13 will be eligible to purchase ‘Follow My Team’ and ‘City’ packs as part of a pre-sale period that runs until April 5, with general sale beginning on April 6.

Tickets for individual matches will go on sale in 2022 and will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

The cost of attending all four of England’s group matches, including their headline Pool D meetings with Argentina and Japan, ranges from ¤255 (£220) to ¤1,045 (£903).

The most expensive ‘Follow My Team’ pack is for hosts France at ¤1,355 (£1,171) including the opening ceremony in Paris and the curtainraising clash with New Zealand, with the price of following the All Blacks coming at ¤1,175 (£1,015).

Quarter-final tickets can be added on to the four group games, while the ‘City’ packs operating across nine of the 10 host cities range from three to five games and cost from ¤58 (£50) to ¤885 (£765).

“The 2023 World Cup will showcase the best of rugby and the best of France and we are

delighted to launch the tournament’s ticketing programme,” World Rugby chairman, Bill Beaumont said.

“Our ambition, in partnership with our friends at the France 2023 organising committee, is to make France 2023 the most accessible tournament to date.

“This ticketing programme certainly does that. Everyone is invited to join a special celebration of France and 200 years of rugby.”

The 10th edition of the World Cup has been extended by one week to allow all teams at least five days’ preparation before pool matches.

No games will be played on Mondays or Tuesdays.

Player squad sizes will also increase from 31 to 33 with a view to improving player welfare standards.

Ben Stokes is suffering with stomach bug in India.

Chairman Bill Beaumont.