Ben Stokes returned to form with a fine half-century against New Zealand at Bay Oval. (Reuters)
Former Australia captain Steve Waugh has slammed England all-rounder Ben Stokes for missing out on the Ashes Test series and reckons that he owes his team-mates after the circus which followed his absence from the Ashes. Stokes was ruled out of the Ashes after he was involved in a bar brawl which led to his arrest and charges of affray. He could return to action only in February against New Zealand as England lost the Test series, 4-0. Steve Waugh also reiterated that Stokes will require not months but years of good performances for England to make up for the Ashes debacle.
Describing the entire episode as a tumultuous one, Waugh spoke to Sky Sports and said, “It’s been chaotic, a bit of a circus. He certainly owes his team some good performances over the next couple of years because he really put them in a bit of a hole with the Australian tour, which was unsettling for the whole team.”
“For Trevor Bayliss and Joe Root to answer those questions was wearing – it was tough on Root. I’m sure Stokes has learned his lesson from what has happened, he left England in an awkward position. It put them off kilter for the whole trip and they didn’t really recover.”
“On any other tour they would have been non-events but they become magnified and all of a sudden you’re dealing with problems every day which you don’t need to,” Waugh said. “It just became a bit of snowball effect for the team.”
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Meanwhile, Ben Stokes returned to form with a fine half-century against New Zealand at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday. His knock helped England to a six-wicket win over New Zealand in the second game of their five-match series.
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