Stokes flies south on rescue mission

Ben Stokes slipped quietly out of England yesterday, heading down under on a potential rescue mission for his embattled teammates.

A Twitter picture apparently showing Ben Stokes at Heathrow on his way to New Zealand

Ben Stokes slipped quietly out of England yesterday, heading down under on a potential rescue mission for his embattled teammates.

The star allrounder boarded a flight to New Zealand, where he could be playing as early as Sunday — raising the possibility of a return to the England team for the third Test in Perth.

If the visitors are not in crisis they are doing a good impression of an outfit on the verge of one.

News that Stokes, who is under a police investigation following a brawl outside a Bristol nightclub, was flying to New Zealand seemed to come as a surprise to the side, which is attempting to deal with the fallout from a headbutting incident between Jonny Bairstow and Cameron Bancroft and a dispiriting loss in the first Test.

England management are fuming that their players have been caught up in a second controversy so soon after the Stokes incident raised questions about a drinking culture in the team.

The headbutting incident happened the night the team arrived in Australia without its star player.

The Stokes brawl happened on the eve of the squad announcement for the tour and in the middle of a one day series

The players were told at a meeting on Monday night that they are now subject to a midnight curfew and liable to heavy penalties if they step out of line again.

While some thought Bairstow should be sent home, he was not subject to any sanction.

Stokes was born in New Zealand and there is speculation he could play for Canterbury as early as this weekend.

“The CCA Board and New Zealand Cricket will independently be considering this issue in the near future,” Canterbury Cricket CEO Jeremy Curwin said yesterday.

England are understood to have cleared the way for him to play in New Zealand last week.

If the police clear him and England’s disciplinary committee follow suit, he could join the squad in Australia in a matter of hours. The tourists are trailing one-nil and his presence would be a massive boost to the team.

England’s director of cricket Andrew Strauss is disappointed by the headbutt controversy, but defended his men. “These guys are not thugs,” said Strauss. “These are good, honest, hardworking cricketers who sacrifice a lot to play for England and I will back them to the hilt.”

Strauss, like coach Trevor Bayliss, was upset with his players for putting themselves in that position, particularly as Bairstow was one of the players cautioned for being out drinking with Stokes in Bristol. “We need to sharpen up our act,” Strauss said. “This is an incident of our own making.

“There’s a lot more clarity now as to what players can and can’t do. And we also need to recognise that sport is moving on. What might have been acceptable in the old days is no longer acceptable. The players need to be smarter. They are intelligent adults, and at times they are not using that intelligence in the right way.”

Australian coach Darren Lehmann said yesterday he trusted his players to behave without a curfew. “We wouldn’t have curfews but that’s our decision and that’s theirs,” he said “We have faith in the blokes to do the right thing.”

Strauss said Bairstow was “embarrassed and shocked” but played down the incident.

“He’s pretty contrite right now. He understands that it wasn’t the most sensible thing for him to do,” Strauss said.

Strauss defended the decision not to impose a drinking ban despite a number of reports of the side being out drinking heavily during previous tournaments.

“It is unrealistic to say to someone that you’re going on tour and you can’t have a drop of alcohol for five months,” he said. “There are times when alcohol is inappropriate from a performance point of view. But look at the fitness results over the last two years. We’ve gone up substantially. I don’t think we’re different to any other team, no different to any other sport.

Former captain Michael Vaughan, who has previously expressed concerns about the team’s drinking, said the public perception of the England team had been damaged.

Strauss spoke with the English press in Adelaide after the Gabba loss and did not mention Stokes would be flying out.

The first anybody knew of his departure was when a member of the public tweeted a photograph apparently of Stokes at Heathrow Airport.

“The ECB is aware that Ben Stokes is making a private trip to New Zealand to spend time with his family,” the ECB said after news broke.

“His travel arrangements have not been arranged by the ECB. He is not on his way to the Ashes, England Lions or other official training camps with the England set-up.”