England Test captain Ben Stokes broke his silence regarding the criticism of his team's training methods, calling it "utter rubbish." The Three Lions were bashed by several cricket pundits for being more focused on playing golf rather than training in the nets during the white-ball series against India. England have been having a poor run in the white-ball formats and this led to the side crashing out of the Champions Trophy before making the semi-finals.
The poor run in the Champions Trophy led to Jos Buttler's resignation as white-ball captain. Harry Brook was recently appointed as the new skipper, and he will take charge of the upcoming ODI and T20I series against West Indies, beginning May 29.
England Test captain Ben Stokes, who has not played a white-ball game for almost two years, defended his team's work ethic, saying it is misunderstood outside the team environment and everyone involved takes training in the nets very seriously.
During the white-ball series against India, former cricketers Ravi Shastri and Kevin Pietersen lambasted the squad for not training properly and taking the tour lightly.
“When you hear comments saying we don’t train hard enough, we’re more bothered about golf, we don’t work hard enough it’s just complete and utter rubbish. You’re not going to be able to be an international sportsman for a long period of time if you don’t have a work ethic and everyone that walks into the Test team, the white-ball team, their work ethic is incredible,” Stokes told Sky Sports.
{{/usCountry}}“When you hear comments saying we don’t train hard enough, we’re more bothered about golf, we don’t work hard enough it’s just complete and utter rubbish. You’re not going to be able to be an international sportsman for a long period of time if you don’t have a work ethic and everyone that walks into the Test team, the white-ball team, their work ethic is incredible,” Stokes told Sky Sports.
{{/usCountry}}“They’re professional athletes, it’s their job. There’s reasons as to why we do things in the way that we do it and those reasons are for us to speak about together in the dressing room. There is a reason to everything that we do," he added.
'There's always a reason'
Stokes passionately defended his team, saying there is a reason for everything the management does. Ahead of the white-ball tour against India, Brendon McCullum was appointed as the white-ball coach, and he is now in charge of all formats for England.
“What we try and do is take any extra added pressure off the shoulders of people. When you see us doing certain things that people might think, why are we doing that, there’s a reason as to why we do it," said Stokes.
England are currently preparing for the upcoming fresh World Test Championship cycle with a Zimbabwe Test. England will then face India and Australia. Stokes was on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury. However, he has now recovered and is expected to return to full strength as an all-rounder.
“In terms of my role as a player, that full seamer, batting at six, trying to dominate every situation I find myself whether I’ve got a bat or ball in my hand is what I want to get back doing out on the field, on the biggest stage. I know I’ve done it before, it’s something I’ve very confident in myself I can do," said Stokes.