Ben Stokes has reacted strongly to the criticism coming from the former iconic captain Ian Botham concerning the England’s Ashes preparation. Botham pointed out the team’s scanty preparation and even questioned the wisdom of having only one internal match before the series starts in Australia. The old cricket master implied that such a policy could make England loose in going to the tough contest.
Stokes supported England’s preparation plan saying that the team’s planning and conditioning are thorough and well thought out. He pointed out that the number of matches played is not always an indicator of good preparation for international cricket at the highest level. The captain of England team contends that his group is more than ready for the upcoming challenge.
“We’ve been preparing for this for a long time”- Ben Stokes
“I’m not really sure what more we’re supposed to do, to be honest. We’ve been preparing for this for a long time. There’s state cricket going on at the moment—a few of the Australian boys are playing—and of course, time has to be taken into consideration as well. Some of our squad members were recently in New Zealand for a series, so the schedule’s pretty jam-packed,” Stokes told the reporters.
