England allrounder Ben Stokes has hit back at the criticism over his heavy workload in the drawn first Test against West Indies despite him sustaining a side strain during the Ashes tour earlier this year. Stokes deliveries 41 overs during the Test despite assumptions the pacer will play a limited role with the ball.
While admitting he felt ‘knackered’ after the Test, Stokes said the team wanted to do everything it could to force a result. “There have been a few comments after the match about the way we went about things in this game, but let me reassure you that things are very simple for us. We are trying to win,” Stokes wrote in his column for The Mirror.
“I sat in the changing room after the game and was absolutely knackered. All of us had given it everything on the field and we could all be satisfied with our efforts. That is what it takes to win Test matches, and when the senior players like Rooty and myself are demanding total effort, of course we have to bring the same,” he added.
Stokes cleared the air over his fitness saying he was ‘fine’ and that the work he put in ahead of the series opener allowed him to bowl that many overs.
“I know there might have been some concerns about how many overs I bowled in the match, especially after coming back from a side injury, but I felt fine to bowl them,” he wrote.
“In the run up to the game, I didn’t know how much I could bowl because it was still a new experience, but that is what my fitness work and preparation is for,” he added.
England suffered a 0-4 drubbing in Australia and Stokes addressed the performance saying the tourists were bested by a better team but that doesn’t mean they gave up.
“Throughout the Ashes people slated us, suggesting we didn’t care, we weren’t trying or even worse that we’d somehow given up,” Stokes wrote.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. We were beaten by a better team. But now that we are fighting hard to win and are closer to that happening, people want Rooty (Joe Root) not to let me bowl even though I’m able! What do you want from us?” he added.
The second Test starts from Wednesday in Barbados.
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