Ben Stokes remorseless over dropping Stuart Broad: The English captain stood by his decision without ruling out the veteran seamer.
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Despite criticism over the decision to bat first after winning the toss in the first Test of the ongoing West Indies’ tour of England in Southampton, stand-in England captain Ben Stokes stands by his decision while admitting that the batting unit should have done better in the first innings.
“I don’t think so, stand by decision to bat first. We’ve got to be good enough to put runs on board We know we’ve got to get 400, 500 on the board, which makes the game in your favour.
“We just didn’t quit manage to grasp the game like we might have done, but it’s a great learning curve for or batting line-up,” Stokes was quoted as saying during the post-match presentation ceremony.
On Day 5, England failed to defend a 200-run target even after West Indies lost three batsmen against the new ball primarily due to Jermaine Blackwood’s 11th Test half-century.
Ben Stokes remorseless over dropping Stuart Broad
Apart from the toss, England’s decision to pick fast bowler Mark Wood over Stuart Broad also invited a lot of criticism. Even with Wood registering match figures of 34-2-110-2 in a comparatively low-scoring match, Stokes remained remorseless over his decision to bench Broad.
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“If I was to regret that [decision], I don’t think it sends the right message to other guys. Very fortunate to leave a guy out of Stuart’s [Broad] quality. The interview he gave was fantastic. I would be upset if he didn’t show the passion he did in that interview, and he’s nowhere near done,” Stokes said.
From Stokes mis-judging a catch at slip to batsman Zac Crawley fumbling to miss a run-out chance, England didn’t take a few chances which further saw the match drifting away from them. Being asked about players being under pressure, Stokes admitted the same but remained unperturbed about it.
“Pressure shows in different ways, there was some hectic running and chances we didn’t quit take, that’s sport. Pressure on both sides in situations like that. We’ll be able to look back on this game with positive but also a learning curve.
“We’ve had a long build-up period but you can never quite get to those levels on the field. We’ve got a lot of people we can select for next Test. I’ve loved it, last night was first stressful one, but it’s Joe’s [Root] team, he’s the captain, look forward to welcoming him back,” Stokes added.
