Former England captain Nasser Hussain has a piece of advice for the all-rounder Ben Stokes for the ongoing series against Windies. Hussain wants Stokes to earn a demerit point by breaching an ICC Code of Conduct. While the advice may sound a little absurd yet it makes a lot of sense.
Stokes was reprimanded for breaching the Level 1 of ICC Code of Conduct on the second day’s play in the second Test at Headingley against Windies. While he was bowling to Shai Hope, the batsman edged a decent delivery to the boundary. Stokes got frustrated and made some foul comments that were recorded by the stump mic and also heard by the match officials.
He was handed one demerit point for the offence. The 26-year-old was carrying 2 demerit points before the match and the current reprimand took his tally to 3 demerit points. If he earns one more demerit point, that would lead to his suspension from the game.
That’s where Nasser Hussain’s advice comes into play. England are scheduled to play against Australia in the Ashes series soon. It’s better for Stokes to be suspended now rather than in the all-important Ashes.
“If I were [England captain Joe] Root I’d be tempted to tell him to get another demerit point during the third Test at Lord’s [against the Windies], so he’d reach the four-point threshold for a ban and miss two of the forthcoming one-day matches, for which he may have been rested anyway, rather than an Ashes game,” cricket.com.au quoted Nasser Hussain.
Australians will attack Stokes
Stokes is known to be an aggressive cricketer on the field. The tendency of the Australians attacking the opposition with words is known to all. Stokes is a crucial player in the English line-up and the Aussies would definitely sledge him to try and provoke him. Stokes is not one of those who would remain calm but he would give it back to the Australians. If he gets banned then, it would hurt England badly.
“This winter the Aussies will be going at him with subtle little digs around the bat, knowing that he’s liable to gob off and possibly get banned for a Test,” Hussain added.
