WI v ENG 2019: Trevor Bayliss gives injury update on Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes suffered an ankle injury before the third ODI.

Stokes was forced to miss the third ODI in Grenada | Getty Images

England head coach Trevor Bayliss on Tuesday (26 February) revealed that Ben Stokes is likely to fit for the fourth One Day International of the five-match series against the Wes Indies to be played at Queen's Park on Wednesday (27 February).

The all-rounder was forced to miss the third ODI in Grenada with an ankle injury that he picked up while practicing boundary catching on the eve of the game against the Windies.

It is also learned that Stokes attended warm-up with the England squad on Monday morning ahead of the fourth ODI and Bayliss is confident that the all-rounder would make it for the Wednesday’s ODI.

Bayliss told the media, “He should be fine in two days' time. It's one of those things, he could have batted and fielded today. He said he could feel his ankle a little bit warming up to bowl. We took a conservative approach today and decided not to chance to make it worse. I'd be surprised if he's not right for Wednesday.”

He continued, “He is important to the squad, as we've shown in the past we've gone into one-day tournaments with only five bowlers. We did in Australia 12 months ago and were able to win. It's not perfect for us but with the players, we've got in the team and the squad we're more than capable of winning without him.”

Bayliss signed off by saying, “He was probably not as confident as I've seen him before when we asked him was he right to play. So straight away it was an easy decision and a learning process for him about how he can look after his body a little better.”

(With ESPN Cricinfo Inputs)

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 26 Feb, 2019

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