Trevor Bayliss expects Ben Stokes to follow up a private apology to his England teammates with a more public show of contrition following the street fight in Bristol last September that led ultimately to the all-rounder being cleared of affray.
Speaking before Saturday’s third Test against India at Trent Bridge, where Stokes could make a return to the England side only four days after his acquittal, the head coach endorsed his selection, described it as “for his own wellbeing” and insisted the past 11 months have been a “wake-up call” for him.
After missing the 2017-18 Ashes series during a protracted wait to be charged by the Crown Prosecution Service, and seen his teammates face additional scrutiny over their behaviour during the 4-0 defeat by Australia, Stokes returned for the tour of New Zealand in February and addressed the whole England set-up to say sorry.
Asked if Stokes should now get this across to supporters – not least since the all-rounder’s solicitor, Paul Lunt, spoke only of the player’s “ordeal”, on the steps of Bristol crown court on Tuesday – Bayliss replied: “Certainly. I’m sure something will be forthcoming. That will be up to Ben and his management team, I suppose.
“When he came out to New Zealand, he addressed the players in the changing room. I think it was important to actually apologise to the boys, the team management and management at the ECB, who had to go through a lot of extra activities to work our way through it.”
Stokes and his one-day teammate Alex Hales, who was involved in the brawl but not charged, are remaining publicly silent as they still have to negotiate a Cricket Discipline Commission inquiry into the events on 25 September and a possible charge of bringing the game into disrepute.
The incident near the Mbargo nightclub in the Clifton area of Bristol – for which Stokes’s co-defendants Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale, were also cleared – came hours after a one-day international win against West Indies and two days out from England’s next match.
Shortly after Bayliss spoke on Thursday, Stokes made a conspicuous arrival for training in a black Mercedes jeep, whereupon news crews swarmed and the Trent Bridge security staff looked to block off his parking spot behind the Smith Cooper stand. His teammates Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler turned up on foot moments later.
The 27-year-old later made his way out of the old pavilion, signing autographs for the All Stars kids on the steps, before being among the first padded up for nets. Bayliss was non-committal about Stokes playing on Saturday – his side sit 2-0 up and can seal the series at the earliest opportunity – but saw no issue with this swift comeback.
Bayliss confirmed the decision involved the ECB board; the acting cricket director, Andy Flower; the national selector, Ed Smith; and the England Test captain, Joe Root, before adding: “It was basically thought that for his own wellbeing, it was good to get him back around cricket. He’ll certainly pull his weight from now on. I’m sure it has been a wake-up call for him.
“It’s good to have him back around the squad. I’m happy for Ben that it’s all over. We can only take things on face value and he certainly understands that he was out when he shouldn’t have been, and got involved with something that he shouldn’t have been involved in.”
Bayliss has long endorsed the all-action approach of Stokes on the field and during his three years in charge has created a relaxed environment that has prevented off-field issues becoming problematic, such as the controversial decision by the one-day captain, Eoin Morgan, and Hales to miss the 2016 tour of Bangladesh on security grounds.
Nevertheless, the Australian and his two captains, Root and Morgan, have been reviewing the team culture over the past 11 months. In Australia, two late-night drinking incidents involving Jonny Bairstow and Ben Duckett garnered greater attention in light of the Stokes incident, the first of which led to a midnight curfew being imposed.
Bayliss said: “Since the Bristol incident, there’s a lot of work being done on team culture with the two captains – what it means to actually play for England – and that will be ongoing. Certainly since a couple of small indiscretions in Australia after that, I can sit here and say I think the players have finally woken up.
“They have learned their lesson, and their behaviour and professionalism off the field as well as on has been top class since. They’ve always understood there is a responsibility but they’re human beings. One or two guys have made a mistake that I’m sure they are disappointed about and they’ve been honest. And we move on.”
Ravi Shastri, the India head coach, said his players would not look to make capital of the Stokes situation on the field. “He is a terrific cricketer. We would like to play against top cricketers. If he is cleared by the courts, what’s the reason for him not to play? If I was in England’s position I would have wanted him to play.”
After two abject performances with the bat, India have more pressing concerns but their one shining light to date – the captain, Virat Kohli, who made 200 runs in Birmingham – appears to have shrugged off the back spasms that hampered him at Lord’s after taking a full part in training that included some agile catches during slips practice.
In contrast to the tourists, England are faced with a headache over who misses out if Stokes returns, with one of Sam Curran and Chris Woakes – his fellow all-rounders – most likely. The former, only 20 years old and three Tests into his career, appears the likeliest fall guy despite a man-of-the-match performance at Edgbaston.