Stokes and Hales Incident
The build up towards the 2017 Ashes series between England and Australia has been dominated by one man. Ben Stokes. Let me just say, what a (insert expletive here) idiot. A little over a month ago, Stokes, who had been clubbing with teammate Alex Hales, was seen having a fight outside a Bristol nightclub. A video emerged of the incident and I must say it is truly shocking. However, it appears now he was standing up for two homosexual men, against some homophobes. Yes, he was violent, but I think this is an important piece of information. It changes the intent of his actions, he is not being violent for the sake of his masculinity or for the sake of it, instead he is sticking up for some other people.
Despite this, 100% he should be dropped from England cricket and of course the Test vice captaincy he had attained should be stripped (which it has). He cannot represent England with a video like that going around and the investigation is on-going so he might still face further punishment which is justified. But Hales is to blame as well. I echo what Kevin Pietersen said in the Sunday Times recently where he said he believed Alex Hales was just as culpable as Stokes. And yet, he has escaped a lot of the blame. Most guys who have gone clubbing, because we are stupid, have come close to getting into bad situations like that before and most of the time that’s where friends come in. They tend to stop proper altercations or fights from occurring, which Hales did not do. If he actually tried, he could’ve stopped Stokes from continuing the fight. Hales is a big dude, just bear hug Stokes from behind and move him away from the situation. I am not taking any blame whatsoever away from Stokes, but Hales should be blamed too.
In a completely separate incident, Stokes was videoed mocking Katie Price’s son Harvey. Harvey was born blind, has a rare genetic condition called Prader-Willi syndrome, along with autism. Stokes has since apologised for this video but it just adds to the issue of whether to select him for England. This, along with the nightclub incident, make it very difficult to select him. I don’t think he should play in the Ashes at all which is annoying because he is such a good player. As Pietersen says, “he is one player, but he is actually three players on that team.” He goes on to talk about how his bowling can change Test matches, his batting is sublime, and he is a brilliant fielder especially as a slip for spinners. “The way he contributes in all three facets of the game makes him a key part of that squad.” I think Stokes is a difference maker for any cricket team. Some of the finest players England have ever had, have made some of the same mistakes Stokes has. Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff are the best two examples here. Both players could change a game and Stokes is part of that rare breed too. His loss to the team will be huge, and he only has himself to blame.
England Squad
Now let’s take a look at the squad that will make up the England team. In terms of batting, I think this is the main area where we may struggle. Kevin Pietersen makes particular reference to the top order, outside of Joe Root and Alastair Cook, being an area of concern. He says, “it is a joke, it is an absolute joke the batsmen have in that set-up.” He goes on to acknowledge that we don’t have anyone good enough to play with Cook, and if Root gets injured or doesn’t score runs, then we are in a lot of trouble. I do agree somewhat with this, with the key positions needing to be filled being an opening partner for Cook and a solid number three. I think Mark Stoneman will get the nod as an opener considering his recent century against Cricket Australia XI and he looks capable of staying at the crease for a long time. The number three spot is harder to predict with the two main contenders being Gary Ballance or James Vince. If recent warm up matches are anything to go by, it could be Vince. Dawid Malan is also showing some form with a century against the same Cricket Australia team Stoneman scored his against. But the beauty of England’s team is that we can pretty much bat all the way down to number ten. Wicket keeper Jonny Bairstow is obviously our first choice keeper, and yet I was still surprised Jos Buttler didn’t make the squad as a second choice because of his batting ability. Instead uncapped Ben Foakes was selected. Other strong batsmen lower down the order include Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, and Stuart Broad.
I think we are significantly stronger in the bowling department despite several injury setbacks. James Anderson is a class act, and combined with Ali and Broad, they make up a durable and solid attack. Its giving these guys some support which will be the key. All-rounders Woakes and Craig Overton will have to perform with the bat and ball to keep the middle order strong and take some wickets. And because of injuries to Toby Roland Jones, Steven Finn, and Jake Ball, replacements Tom Curran, and George Garton have been brought in. Finally, Mason Crane acts as another spinner in the team to round out the bowling attack.
There are some England Lions players who might get call ups if the players above do not perform. Mark Wood, provided he is fit enough, is top of that list and batsmen Tom Westley or Keaton Jennings will likely come in as options for the opener and number three positions. Finally, Jack Leach could come in as a replacement spinner if injuries hit England, or Crane struggles to step up in Australia.
Overall it would be easy to be dismissive of this squad and it would be easy to say we are going to get hammered down under. But I think with the tools and players available, it is a strong squad. The success of the team will hinge upon batting and the top four or five players making high scores. They are fully capable of that.
Australia Squad
All the talk up to this point had been about how intimidating the Australian squad will be but since February of this year, the Aussies have been pretty underwhelming. They lost a One-day series against New Zealand two-nil. They lost a twenty20 series to Sri Lanka two-one, and then lost a Test series to India by the same score. India then hammered them four-one in a One-day series too. Finally, and shockingly, Bangladesh then managed to draw a Test series against the Australians.
So, in playing terms, the build up to the Ashes has been less then ideal in Australia. Additionally, the announcement of the squad has caused considerable debate and backlash too. The selection of wicket keeper Tim Paine has caused anger because he hasn’t played Test cricket since 2010, and he hasn’t had a first-class ton for 11 years. His selection over Peter Nevill and Matthew Wade was met with a large amount of criticism, especially from former player Stuart MacGill who said the selectors were ‘morons masquerading as mentors’.
There were some batsmen that nobody doubted would be in the squad, such as captain Steve Smith, David Warner, and Usman Khawaja. Cameron Bancroft was also added to that list by national selector Trevor Hohns because he ‘put a case forward that was irresistible’. Opener Matt Renshaw was also expected to be in the squad however his name has been left off the list. It appears the selectors have decided to have two all-rounders in the Test team as well with Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh being selected. This was a slight shock to me as Glenn Maxwell was omitted, as was Hilton Cartwright, and time will tell if they made the correct decisions.
The three bowlers who make up their strong pace attack are Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood, and had it not been for the injury to James Pattinson, the Aussies would have four extremely proficient pace bowlers for England to contend with. But I digress, the three fit Aussie bowlers will look to terrorise England like Mitchell Johnson did back in 2013/14, and Starc will probably be that man. Jackson Bird and Chadd Sayers act as cover for the pace men. Finally, Nathan Lyon is the sole spinner in the squad which is an interesting decision with Ashton Agar missing out.
Much like the England squad, there are some noticeable gaps in the Aussie team, but they have some real quality where it matters. However, some pundits have heavily criticised then team, none more so than Will Macpherson of the Guardian who said, “Not only have Australia failed to offer themselves a fifth frontline bowling option – a role played superbly by Shane Watson in the whitewash of 2013-14, allowing Mitchell Johnson to bowl short spells – but the top seven look shaky and untried.” Strong criticism I know, and I think it is warranted to some extent. You can read his whole article on the Australia squad here – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/nov/16/australia-ashes-anger-wicketkeeper-tim-paine-england
Overall, both sides have some quality batsmen, and superb bowlers, which means the lesser players will have a huge say in who wins this Ashes series. And it is difficult to tell which side has the better lesser players, but it being held in Australia will have a big impact. The crowd and atmosphere will give England trash talk from day one, so we will see which players shrink, and which ones grow. I think it is going to be a long tour for England IF the crowd and Australian bowlers intimidate the English. However, if we have a good amount of fight in us, then it could be quite close.
Result – Australia win the Ashes 3-2.
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