Trevor Bayliss says he had no part in Ben Stokes being cleared for England section by ECB
Written by News on 18/01/2018
England head coach Trevor Bayliss says he had no involvement in the ECB’s decision to allow Ben Stokes to be available for selection again for the tour of New Zealand.
The all-rounder was suspended from playing for England by the ECB following an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September, which resulted in him missing the Ashes series against Australia.
But the 26-year-old is expected to join the squad in New Zealand for February’s T20 tri-series, live on Sky Sports, following the ECB board’s decision.
“It’s a board decision which I’ve obviously had no part in,” Bayliss said. “I will say it’s a difficult situation and a difficult decision to make.
“From our point of view here, we’ve just been concentrating on playing cricket without him to begin with. But everyone involved with the team, the squad and the coaches are very happy that he’s now available again.”
Stokes, who is “extremely delighted” to be given the opportunity to play for England again, has not played for his country since their ODI victory over the Windies in September.
Last month he played domestic cricket for New Zealand side Canterbury Kings.
Despite his recent suspension, Stokes has been named in the International Cricket Council’s Test and one-day teams of the year.
Asked whether he wanted Stokes available for selection sooner, Bayliss responded: “He hasn’t played any cricket for a little while either so it’s basically my thought that he should probably start in New Zealand just to allow him a little bit of time to get up to speed.
“I haven’t even had an opportunity to speak to him yet about what his programme might be over the next week or two leading into that series.
“I think the main focus going forward is probably the New Zealand ODIs and trying to get him up to speed for those – what that might entail, we’ll have to have a close look at that over the next day or so and try and work out what’s going to be the best for him.”
Watch England’s tour of New Zealand in full live on Sky Sports Cricket, starting with the first of three T20s on Tuesday, February 13, at 6am.
(c) Sky News 2018: Trevor Bayliss says he had no part in Ben Stokes being cleared for England section by ECB
