Go full throttle in the warmup games, says Ben Stokes to his side as practice match “will be proper and taken very seriously”.
Stokes urges England players to go full throttle in intrasquad Ashes warm-up.
After bowling at a high level for the previous two months, England captain Ben Stokes is certain he can handle a demanding workload during the Ashes. In a three-day intrasquad match with the England Lions that begins on Thursday, he will make his comeback to competitive cricket. He has urged England’s players to go “balls to the wall” in their one warm-up before the opening Test.
Stokes has been out since late July due to a shoulder injury, thus his fitness has been questioned. However, he has been bowling nonstop during England’s training sessions at Lilac Hill, a suburban pitch on the outskirts of Perth that used to stage amusing 50-over matches for visiting teams.
“I’ve been bowling like that for two months now,” Stokes said. “It was nice to put the feet up but once the rehab started, I’ve hit the ground running. There has been a lot of hard work to get my body in a good place. I’ve had two-three months of building up to get here and that’s where all the hard work comes in.”
“[Injuries] could happen any time, one of those things when you’re an athlete you’re always exposing yourself to injuries,” he said. “It’s part of what we do. I bat, bowl and field. It’s a pretty high intensity role that I do.
“It’s frustrating, but also a little bit of realisation that I might have a little niggle here and there.”
“Next few days is balls to the wall for everyone, no easing into it and it will be a good run for everyone,” he said. “We’re going to be giving everyone in our squad time out in the middle. Everyone will be getting an opportunity.
“It will be proper and taken very seriously the next few days. We’ve got nine days until the first Test and a lot of things can happen.”