Originally Posted by
Doddie
Can you imagine what the Aussie media and fans would be subjecting him to right now if he were out there? They'd be having a field day.
And would you trust him not to lose the plot and at the very least embarrass himself and the team? He's a terrific cricketer but one with a serious attitude problem. There's no way he should have been made vice-captain. One of Bairstow, Broad or Anderson - senior professionals - would have made sense.
Oh yes, and he's also fragile under pressure - remember a certain T20 Final? Cricket's odd - a team game, but one where individual confrontations are crucial. In that T20 England as a team played really well and should have won, except that when the contest was Stokes v. Brathwaite, Stokes broke and lost it.
They couldn't have taken him - I imagine the police and CPS would have had something to say anyway about him being out of the country while the case was proceeding - because bottom line, right now he's far more of a liability than an asset.
Anyhow - they had Australia on the brink and seem to have bottled it again. Match is still finely balanced, though. Tomorrow may have a few more surprises for us.