Marlon Samuels renews rivalry with Ben Stokes ahead of England tour

Marlon Samuels is known to be a fiery cricketer who wears his heart of his sleeves. He is a no nonsense cricketer and doesn’t shy away from giving it back to players who try to wind him up. England all-rounder Ben Stokes was one cricketer who had a famous run-in with the 36-year old Jamaican.

It all began during England’s tour of the West Indies in 2015 when Marlon Samuels amusingly saluted Ben Stokes after the Englishman was dismissed for 8 during the second Test match at St George. The duo had another run in during the World T20 final at Eden Gardens in April 2016. Samuels had struck an unbeaten 85 and was at the non-striker end when Carlos Brathwaite famously hit four successive sixes off Ben Stokes to finish the game in the last over.

Windies bring back Samuels, Gayle

Samuels finds himself back in the 50-over squad after being out of the reckoning for almost a year. He, along with senior cricketer Chris Gayle, has been selected to play the limited overs series in England this month in a bid to help West Indies qualify directly for the 2019 World Cup.

Stokes and Samuels will face off after that epic battle in Kolkata this month. Samuels has already issued a warning to the all-rounder ahead of the 5-match ODI series and the T20 which is scheduled to take place on Saturday.

“With me coming to England, he should stay on the boundary when I’m batting, as far away as possible,” Samuels quoted in an interview with the Guardian.

“As long as he keeps quiet,” Samuels said.

“I won’t start anything, so if anything does happen, that means he has said something to me first. I’m going to come to England and be a good boy… at least for the start of it.

“He wanted to take me on a couple of years ago.

“He started something and I told him he better be prepared to finish it. But I saw him during the IPL this year and he didn’t say anything. I hope he can continue on that path. If not, I have things in place,” Samuels concluded.

Samuels has had an altercation with the great Shane Warne during his stint in the BBL. He also sued former Australian cricketer Geoff Lawson for a demotion case which was won by the former. He is not the one who will initiate anything on a cricket field but won’t hold himself back if the opponent tries to get under his skin.