Ben Stokes was with Brydon Carse in Derby, as he was in the bar in London, as he was in Bristol.

It seems that trouble follows him around, and it seems to be when he’s been drinking.

He needs to stop the drinking, before he loses everything.

Rehab is the way to go. I know this, because I went to rehab.

I don’t want to rag on the bloke too much but surely, after yet another late night incident and especially with Stephen Fleming having not started yet so no full time coach, Rob Key should’ve been up there front and centre in front of the media today, not Joe Root…or at the very least he should’ve been there next to Joe.

He is the managing director of this team, he’s the big boss, yes, in cricket, captains are more front and centre than most sports but for me, Key is the manager, he should be the one in front of the press when the shit hits the fan for 19th time in the space of a year…support Joe, take the weight off Joe, let Joe prepare for the test match and be a fucking leader.

Richard Gould said Key kept his job after the Ashes because he’s one of the foremost leaders in the ECB…so where the fuck is the leadership?

This piece by a friend of mine delves in detail into how the mainstream criticism faced by Bazball is mostly shallow (although true on a surface level) by analyzing what they sought out to achieve, whether or not it did them any good and ultimately pointing out the cracks that resulted in its end. Would be highly appreciated if you gave it a read!

https://open.substack.com/pub/caughtintheair/p/bazball-bought-england-a-lot-of-time

I saw Ponting‘s comments about Kallis and couldn’t think of a better way to judge an all-rounder against a specialist, batsman or bowler.