England coach Trevor Bayliss says he is ready for the “circus” that will accompany the arrival of Ben Stokes in Australia after the star allrounder was named in the squad for the ODI Series against Australia.
Stokes has been included in England’s 16-man party on a provisional basis. The 26-year-old is currently awaiting the verdict of the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK on whether he will be charged or not for his part in a street brawl in Bristol in September that left a man with a broken eye socket.
That incident saw Stokes arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm and the England & Wales Cricket Board pull him out of the Ashes tour until the completion of the police investigation.
“Whenever he comes back that’s going to be a bit of a circus for sure,” said Bayliss. “Whether it’s any more of a circus than it’s already been, it’s hard to say. If it happens, let’s just get on with it and take it on the chin.
“I’m sure there will be a fair bit of scrutiny. We won’t know it actually until it comes along. There’s been a fair bit of scrutiny that’s come along with it in the first five or six weeks as well. But we’ve got to adjust to that at some stage.”
England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
