Verdict on the Ben Stokes Bristol fiasco likely to be made this week

Team England are certainly missing the services of their ace all-rounder Ben Stokes already. The visitors failed to notch up a win against the Cricket Australia XI in the warm up fixture recently. It was their third and the final warm up game before they now head to the Gabba, Brisbane, for the first Ashes Test commencing on November 23. While the English team have a lot to ponder about their combinations ahead of the first Test, there seems to be no respite for the all-rounder Ben Stokes either.

The recent reports in the Telegraph suggest that the Avon and the Somerset Police are likely to give the final verdict on the Stokes’ case. Ben Stokes was held up by the Bristol police almost a couple of months ago for his alleged involvement in a pub brawl in the city. His teammate, Alex Hales, was also held along with him.

England were hosting Windies at that time in an ODI series. Both Stokes and Hales were subsequently ruled out of the national side for the final two ODIs against the Windies. Also, Stokes, who was being tiipped as the big player for the Ashes this year,was not considered for selection in the mega series.

England coach defends his team

Meanwhile, the English coach Trevor Bayliss defended his bowlers for not being able to register a victory in the warm-up fixture where they had dictated terms for the first three days. The visitors were undone by two young Aussie batsmen, 18 year old Jason Sangha and 22 year old Matt Short. Sangha became the second youngest player after Sachin Tendulkar to score a First Class century against England. Bayliss commended the efforts of the two batsmen but maintained that it was a flat deck at their disposal.

“It was a very flat wicket. It was good to spend some time in the field. I’m sure there will be times during the Test series where we’re out in the field all day. There were two young guys out there that batted very, very well. All credit to them, they looked good. It’s good for Australian cricket,” quoted Trevor Bayliss.

“It’s not really damaging to us before the first Test. Obviously we’d like to take 10 wickets for 90 runs in every game and it would have been good to take more wickets, but this is what can happen in cricket,” he added further.