Amidst an apparent Ashes call-up, Ben Stokes fails on Canterbury debut

The “Ben Stokes” fiasco made the entire world go nuts and much to the disappointment of the English fans, he is not playing the ongoing Ashes. His altercation with a couple of people on the road led to the intervention of the England Cricket Board and the government bodies and Stokes is currently is not in contention for getting selected in the England national side.

But it seems highly likely with recent circumstances that Stokes might make a surprising return to the English side in the Ashes. His side certainly looks toothless without him. The Three Lions are getting trolled heavily on social media for opting to bowl first in the Day-Night Test, many suggesting “Skipper Joe Root has tossed the Ashes away”.

Amidst all this chaos, Ben Stokes made an eventful return to professional cricket in New Zealand. Playing his debut game for local side Canterbury, Stokes was struggling to perform and he was looking all rusty. Who else, but Cricket Australia posted a video of his short little inning for Canterbury, which lasted just seven delivery. The video certainly portrayed his innings a little grotesquely.

Not a great comeback

Ben Stokes was cleaned up by a spinner, who looked very unsettled. It’d be wrong to judge a player by such short-little innings, but he will look back and think this is not what I am. He was batting at number 4 with his side needing some crucial runs, but he disappointed. “Luckily, he’s as an all-rounder so he’ll get a go with the ball,” said Canterbury Cricket chief executive Jeremy Curwin.

If this is anything to go by, ECB selectors might have to rethink. But given there is an opportunity, Stokes might get a callback from the International side as he has a CV which can be matched by very few of his age. He is definitely at par with the best cricketers of this generation and to not give him another chance would be criminal.

Here’s the video of his comeback innings.