On 23 November there will be a strong, talented and combative redhead walking onto the field for England.
It may have been the last flight Down Under, but his bags would have been picked up – boxing gloves and all – and whisked away to the Gabba to lighten his load.
I have no doubt Ben Stokes will play in the Ashes, and England’s chances of retaining the urn rest on his shoulders.
He’ll be ready for the war of the Ashes, as David Warner so imprecisely put it, but whether that’s being ready for conflict on or off the pitch, we shall see.
For a country that is so often quick to jump to the moral high ground in issues in cricket, England has dropped the ball when it comes to its management of the Stokes situation. English past players have been very quick to slam David Warner for dropping the bombshell that he may sledge the Poms this summer, yet the England and Wales Cricket Board still have a seat on the plane for Stokes on standby should the all-rounder be cleared by police.
Let’s not hide from the truth. Stokes should have been suspended from the Ashes and dumped as vice-captain, especially after the footage emerged. Of course he is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but the footage of his Bristol brawl is damning.
But we shouldn’t be surprised by such a response from the English. There is no such thing as a spirit of cricket, especially not in the traditional home of the game.
Last year, I found myself playing a cricket season in England.
In the first game of the English season, I was struck by the inherent spirit that surrounds the English game when the old rustic bell was rung as the umpires walked onto the field, and both teams were applauded on.
(Image: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
In the third over of that game, the number three nicked – or, for a better word, smashed – one to the keeper. He didn’t walk, and he was given not out. The next week, our captain blew up after nearly being a victim of the infamous ‘Mankad’. I could also swear that there was more dirt than fingernails underneath my mistimed cover drive to short cover when we were nine down still needing ten runs for victory.
The days of cricket being a gentleman’s game are long gone. To say it is a game played in an inherent spirit is fanciful and naive. It is a game dictated on the professional level by commercial interests and the desire to win.
If anything, the English governing body is worse than their park players.
For the ECB, England stands to lose far more than just the Ashes without Ben Stokes. With a team of relatively straight-bat, politically correct individuals, Stokes is England’s drawcard. People tune in when he bats, they watch when he bowls and they pay attention when he gets angry.
In the commercial and media world that cricket inhabits, spilt-over anger and aggression sell. How boring would the 2013 Ashes have been had Stuart Broad walked after edging a ball to first slip at Trent Bridge? The fact that Broad didn’t walk overshadowed the achievement of Ashton Agar’s 98 from number 11. Instead, the front pages belittled ‘Broad the Cheat’. The power of media.
Adding to this, Cricket Australia has its own media channel. It needs content to gain eyeballs, and during the offseason especially it needs stories. If a player gets in trouble, be it an Australian player or one overseas, that’s payday for cricket.com.au. The more viewers who click to read about Steve O’Keefe’s latest outburst, the greater the value of the advertising on the site.
It really is ‘not just cricket’; it’s media content.
If Stokes tours, imagine how many more newspapers will be sold. The backlash will send news media and social media alike into an uncontrolled frenzy, all the while generating more and more interest and content surrounding the traditional contest. In a featherhead division, if Warner hooks Root, there will be media meltdown.
But all eyes will be on blood nut Stokes. He will bat five, bowl first, and charge downwind.
Bring on the Ashes, blood sport at its finest.
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