Advertisement
Advertisement
England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has supported head coach Brendon McCullum’s notion of being smarter with their comments ahead of a hugely important summer.
While speaking to the media ahead of the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, Ben Stokes emphasized comments that England players had made in the past couple of years.
Ben Stokes, who will be playing his first competitive match since picking up a hamstring injury during last year’s tour of New Zealand, stated that comments made by himself, Brendon McCullum, and other players are sometimes misinterpreted when reported by the media.
“Yeah, I think what’s the messaging we have delivered over sort of last two and half or three years, let’s say has been for a multiple of reasons, you know the words that we say mean bigger things in our minds,” Ben Stokes said.
“I and Buzz [Brendon McCullum] and particular and sometimes when those sort of comments that we say come across in the media by some of the other lads that get heavily taken out of context,” Ben Stokes added.
Ben Stokes called for his team players to be smart with their words while taking the blame on himself for the interaction.
“I can totally understand that as to why that may frustrate or annoy fans, public. We always want public to be on our side. We know how much support we get and we value that incredibly.
“But now we have spoken about that and just be a little smarter about some of the comments that we, how we deliver it may be and I partly take a bit of blame for that as well because when sometimes I speak and I’ ve got a bigger meaning towards that does not mean everyone understand the bigger picture of that, if that makes sense, Ben Stokes explained.
Earlier, Brendon McCullum suggested that his side is ‘shooting for the stars’ ahead of a packed summer, but urged that players need to remain humble.
The statement comes in light of criticism England players have faced for reacting to their losses in public.
A month earlier, England speedster Mark Wood admitted to the fact that the team players have said ‘dumb’ things in the media.
It is pertinent to mention that the three lions were also under immense criticism from former batter Kevin Pietersen for not training enough, particularly during the white-ball tour of India earlier this year.
For this reason, England’s managing director, Rob Key, also gave a statement in March that the [England] players need to “stop talking rubbish”.
For the unversed, England will start their summer with a one-off historic Test against Zimbabwe on Thursday. This will be Zimbabwe’s first on English soil in 23 years.
The match will be followed by a white-ball series against West Indies under new captain Harry Brook. England will later face the challenge of India in a five-match Test series, starting from 20 June.
READ: Jofra Archer ruled out of ODI series against West Indies
