England captain Ben Stokes has again shut down talks on the team’s decision to not send more players to the Canberra tour match to face the PM’s XI.
England have copped plenty of criticism for the decision after it came to light that just three of the squad (and none from the team who were humbled by Australia in Perth) were joining the second-tier England Lions to the two-day day-night clash.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Ben Stokes defends call for players to miss PM XI match.
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But now Stokes and star batter Joe Root have defended their team’s preparations when quizzed about it by 7NEWS on Wednesday.
“Some have said that maybe you should’ve gone to Canberra to get a little bit of practice with the pink ball. What do you make of those suggestions?” Stokes was asked by 7NEWS.
Ben Stokes was quick to shut down questions about England’s preparation. Credit: Seven The response was emphatic: “‘We’re thinking about what we need to do in Brisbane, mate.”
Root also brushed off questions about England’s preparation ahead of the Test in Brisbane (on December 4).
“Yeah, I mean, we’re preparing as best we can and we’ look forward to the next game,” Root said.
Jacob Bethell, Matthew Potts and Josh Tongue are the only England players who are heading to Canberra but they weren’t in the team that was dismantled by Aussie stars Travis Head and Mitchell Starc on Saturday.
It has been suggested by several former England greats that maybe Root (who made a duck and eight in the two innings in Perth), Zak Crawley (who made a pair of ducks) and Harry Brook (52 and a duck) could all benefit from some extra batting practice before the second Test at the Gabba.
Meanwhile, cricket legend Ian Healy has defended under-fire Aussie veteran Usman Khawaja after Khawaja made the interesting decision play three rounds of golf ahead of the first Test in Perth.
Khawaja — who turns 39 in December — suffered back spams during the Test and was unable to face the opening balls in either the first or second innings and now there are calls that he should lose his spot in the team.
But Healy says Khawaja was just unlucky.
“He was dead stiff,” Healy said.
“You get a back injury … anyone can tweak their back.
“If he gets fit and strong and feels good about that body of his, then they’ll pick him and I would pick him.”