Ashes 2017-18: Tough job for ECB to fly Ben Stokes out to Australia, feels Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor feels that Ben Stokes's schedule to fly down to Australia for the Ashes is indeed in jeopardy.

There has already been a lot since Ben Stokes got involved in a street brawl at Bristol. Starting from legal actions, he is now facing an axe from the English squad, which is due to travel to Australia for the upcoming Ashes, scheduled to get underway from November 23 at The Gabba in Brisbane. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia (CA) director Mark Taylor feels that as per the video footage owned by The Sun, which shows Stokes apparently hitting multiple punches to a couple of men, it is difficult for Stokes to get away so easily. Taylor feels that Stokes’ schedule to fly down to Australia for the Ashes is indeed in jeopardy and it won’t be easy for the ECB to get away with this situation so easily. David Warner: My transgression was lot less than what we’ve seen on the Ben Stokes’ footage

“I think it’s going to be very difficult for the ECB to send Stokes to Australia. Having said that I’m not going to be too judgmental on Stokes because I don’t know the events of the night. I have no doubt that there was probably a lot of hassling going on at the time. But I think the video evidence that we’ve all seen is going to make it very difficult for the English side to pick him,” Taylor was eported as saying by Channel Nine.

“I’ve always thought it takes two to tango but when you’re any person you can’t deal with it that way. Particularly when you’re in the public eye, you’re in a no-win situation there. All you can really do in that situation is get out of there. Remove yourself from the situation. I think that’s what he has to do in the future and that’s what I would be telling him if I were his captain, coach, father, whoever,” he added.

Speaking on what impact could Stokes’s absence could have on England during the Ashes, he said, “He does bring something to England that Australia don’t have at the moment, that genuine all-rounder at No. 6. I remember him making a hundred in Perth four years ago. I think he showed us then what he can do in this country and in recent times we’ve seen him take some very useful wickets. He’s one of those guys that can change a Test match with the bat or the ball and they are rare characters.”

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