×

The Ashes 2017-18: Ben Stokes absence hurting England, opines Ryan Harris

Ben Stokes is currently caught up in his own street-brawl case.

Ben Stokes © Getty Images
Ben Stokes © Getty Images

England won the pink-ball warm-up game by 192 runs on Saturday. However, Cricket Australia XI coach Ryan Harris opined that England’s batting line-up looked vulnerable, and Alastair Cook was rusty with his batting.

Barring Mark Stoneman, skipper Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, none of the batsmen could rise to the occasion. England’s bowling was top-notch as Chris Woakes scalped 4 wickets while James Anderson and Craig Overton claimed three wickets each. Ben Stokes absence is surely hurting England; he is currently caught up in his own street-brawl case.

Cook managed to make a mere 47 runs in the match. Harris particularly pointed out England’s batting looks weak with no Stokes at No. 6 or 7 while speaking to cricket.com.au.

‘England’s batting was vulnerable’

“It was, especially with no (Ben) Stokes at six or seven. But it depends on how the boys bowl to them. If the boys bowl loose and wide, there’s trouble. But we have got some good intel and some good knowledge on what we want to do which I will pass on to our (Test) bowlers.”

‘Alastair Cook looked rusty’

“He looked a bit rusty. He obviously had a good county season, he is probably coming off some good form. But it’s different in our conditions. He is pretty good in these conditions, he had a good 2010-11 (series) here so he knows what he has to do. I’m sure he will look forward to another hit next week … we all know what he can do, we know he’s world-class.”

trending this week