With superstar Ben Stokes on the verge of the Test axe, England have been left with a 32-year-old spin bowling all-rounder to save them from Ashes embarrassment. Ex-captain Nasser Hussain and former Test opener Nick Compton have both pushed the case of veteran Samit Patel to fill the void to be left by Stokes in the middle-order.
Patel has played six Test matches and averages just 16.77 with the bat, and has given 60 runs for every wicket he’s taken with his left-arm orthodox, which Australia will be licking their lips to exploit on hard, flat pitches.
However, resigned to the fact that pace-bowling and six-hitting destroyer Stokes is an irreplaceable force, England have been forced to search far and wide for another player who can at least add versatility as an all-rounder. Patel has had a strong domestic season with Nottinghamshire and Hussain believes he can do a job. “The bottom line is you can’t replace (Stokes) with one cricketer. Stokes is a two-in-one player, maybe more,” Hussain wrote. “He’s the kind of player teams all over the world cry out for, because he balances a side so well. More than that, he has the temperament to succeed in the big series. I realise that Patel is no Ben Stokes, but then no one is, otherwise they’d have been selected in the squad in the first place.
“But if England are going to compete, it’s crucial they get off to a good start at Brisbane, and that will mean scoring runs. Patel has been scoring runs for fun with Nottinghamshire recently, and his left-arm spin provides some balance.”
Earlier England test cricket vice-captain Stokes was arrested following a street brawl captured on camera which left a man hospitalised with facial injuries, just hours after Stokes played in England's ODI victory over the West Indies at the Bristol Cricket Ground.
The incident has resulted in Stokes being suspended by the English Cricket Board (ECB), despite being selected for the Ashes squad to tour Australia later this year, and relatives of the punch victim have reportedly called for Stokes to be permanently barred from the team.
England Ashes squad: Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Mark Stoneman, James Vince and Chris Woakes.
