Ben Stokes questions the credentials of Matthew Hayden as a cricket expert

The war of words has begun as the mother of all battles, the Ashes is about to embark this summer down under from November 23. Surprisingly, the people involved in the banter are those who are not the part of the on-field action. The intensity of the Ashes is such that even the former cricketers from both the countries get under the skin of each other. A similar thing has happened between Matthew Hayden and Ben Stokes as the latter has come up with a perfect response to the former’s comment on the current England squad which has travelled down under.

The highly-rated England all-rounder is not amongst the one who travelled with the squad for the prestigious series due to his involvement in the altercation outside the bar in the Bristol a couple of months ago. The investigation is still going on as ECB had withdrawn his name from the squad and it seems unlikely that Stokes would be part of the tour itself. Though he seems to be supporting the lads who will face the music and has come out in their support by slamming the former Aussie great Hayden.

Stokes’ response

Matthew Hayden had slammed the touring party earlier and called them a ‘rabble’. He also went on to say that he doesn’t know the names of half of their squad. “The Poms are a rabble, I look down half of the list and I honestly don’t even know who half of these guys are,” he said on Brisbane Heat’s podcast. However, Ben Stokes voiced his support for the England team and questioned Hayden’s credentials as a cricket expert. He also made him aware of the fact that only a couple of players haven’t played at the international level from the current squad.

He took to social media website Twitter and wrote in his response, “Hayden says he doesn’t know who half our squad is….only 2 from the squad haven’t played at International level…..he’s a cricket pundit yeah??” While the fact presented by the suspended all-rounder is true, the real test of the poms will be on the field when they will start their campaign on Thursday. It would be very interesting to see the way they cope up with the conditions and the pressure down under.

Here’s Ben Stokes’ reply: