Ben Stokes is one of the best batters in the world of cricket and has some solid representation in red-ball cricket. He's one of the most successful captains of England and has performed well in almost all the series. While playing in The Hundred, he got injured during the game against the Manchester Originals. He suffered a hamstring injury and is ruled out of the upcoming Test match against Sri Lanka.
Recently, after Stokes' injury, a UK-based journalist, Scott Wilson, accused the English skipper of ignoring the County tournaments and giving more value to The Hundred, which, according to the journalist, is a Circus. Wilson said, "So Ben Stokes isn't allowed to play any county cricket for #Durham during the summer, but he's fine to mess about in the circus that is the Hundred, rupturing his hamstring and ruling him out for the rest of the summer. Utterly farcical...."
Replying to the tweet, Stokes bashed him and clarified his participation in the County tournament. Stokes tweeted, "Chief Sports Writer??? I played 3 Championship games for Durham this year." This reply was quite important, and Stokes wasn't scared away from making his point, showing his dissatisfaction with the journalist's question.
Ian Bell appointed as Sri Lanka's batting coach
Meanwhile, ahead of the upcoming England series, Sri Lanka has appointed Ian Bell as the batting coach. The former English player will now work with the Sri Lankan team, which was a good call from the management. This is an important series for England as their chances of qualifying for the WTC finals will be boosted if they win all the matches.
"We appointed Ian to bring in a person with local knowledge to help the players with key insights on the conditions there. Ian has a lot of experience playing in England, and we believe his input will help our team in this crucial tour," said SLC CEO Ashley De Silva.