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Ashes 2017: Chris Woakes ready to welcome Ben Stokes back with open arms as England long for his return

All-rounder Stokes has flown to New Zealand as the prospect of an England recall grows, and teammate Woakes admits his return would immediately make England immediately better

Jonathan Liew
Adelaide
Wednesday 29 November 2017 08:07 GMT
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Ben Stokes has touched down in New Zealand ahead of a potential Ashes recall
Ben Stokes has touched down in New Zealand ahead of a potential Ashes recall

Chris Woakes says that the England team are keen to see Ben Stokes restored to their Ashes squad. Stokes’s decision to fly out to New Zealand to play cricket for Canterbury has added a layer of intrigue to England’s build-up to the crucial second Test in Adelaide, and Woakes said that the aberrant all-rounder – currently suspended for his part in an altercation outside a nightclub in September – would be welcomed back “with open arms”.

“As an England team, we’d like to see him here,” Woakes said. “As a player, as a friend, I’d like to see him here. No one likes to see what he’s been through. We’d have him here with open arms. Ben’s a world-class cricketer and he’d make any team in the world better. But there is still a police investigation going on, so from that side of things we don’t know any more than you do.”

Officially, the purpose of Stokes’s visit is to see family and “work on my golf swing”, as he quipped to reporters on landing at Christchurch Airport on Wednesday. Yet the wider significance was not lost on his England team-mates, now just a few hours away by plane.

“The fact he’s out there playing cricket means he’s a little bit closer to Australia if he was able to join the squad,” Woakes said. “We’ve all seen he’s been training indoors, but that can only get you so far. Nothing beats playing cricket outdoors. It’s great to see him back doing what he loves and what he’s good at.”

The absence of Stokes has hit England’s seam attack and lower-order batting, both of which struggled in the first Test at Brisbane. They will have to do without him again in Adelaide, but despite their 10-wicket defeat, the sense in the England camp is very much that they competed on an even footing with Australia for three days, only to let the match slip on day four.

“A lot of people wrote us off before we arrived,” Woakes said. “And yes, looking at the scorecard for that first Test, you’d think we’ve been hammered. But we actually take some positives out of that game, having performed really well for three days. If we can do that for longer in Adelaide, we've got a good chance of going 1-1.”

Ashes 2017: Jonny Bairstow gives statement after headbutt incident

The Adelaide Test is a day-night affair, and late nights have already caused England more than a little trouble on this tour so far. The squad are now under a midnight curfew after Jonny Bairstow’s playful head-butt on Australian opener Cameron Bancroft, but Woakes shrugged off the controversy.

“That doesn’t really affect us a huge amount,” Woakes said. “Very rarely are we out past that time anyway. We know what we’re allowed to do, and what we’re not allowed to do. We have to step up and be grown men about it. We have a duty to the shirt.”

Speaking at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday, Australia spinner Nathan Lyon refused the opportunity to twist the knife any further into the tottering tourists. Instead he warned his team-mates to be on their guard: “We know they’re going to come back bigger and better and stronger,” he said. “It’s not going to be a walk in the park.

Stokes arrived in Christchurch on Wednesday and is in talks to play for Canterbury

“We know England are a good side. They’ve got a good captain, they’ve got exceptional players. The pink ball is going to suit their bowlers. It’s a very good wicket. I’ve never seen a bad one here, if I’m being brutally honest. It’ll spin and bounce.”

After his outspoken pre-series comments, this was a Lyon tamer than expected, not entirely comfortable with his role as assigned pantomime villain. “The villain?” he said. “Dunno about the villain. I still stand by my comments. That’s the Australian way. But I’m here to play cricket. I’m very confident, and excited to be playing in an Ashes series.”

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