Stokes ‘hurting’ with how Pak series has unfolded, says McCullum
England head coach Brendon McCullum said captain Ben Stokes will be "hurting" after the 2-1 Test series defeat against Pakistan.
Former England pacer Darren Gough feels that star England all-rounder Ben Stokes’ performance might be affected if international cricket is played in empty stadiums owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have seen Ben Stokes whenever there is a big game on, when there is something really at stake in a match, he steps up and always delivers,” the 49-year-old was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
“So it will be interesting to see how someone like him, the greatest cricketer arguably in the world at the moment, how he performs with no crowd. I think it might affect his performance just a little bit,” he added.
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England are scheduled to take on West Indies for a three-match Test series in July, the bilateral cricket competition which will mark cricket resumption after the coronavirus outbreak.
Gough, who featured for the England cricket team in as many as 58 Test and 159 ODIs for England, stated that it would be interesting to see how different players react to matches played behind closed doors.
“I don’t think it makes any difference to the players. Of course, some players react to crowds more than others. Graham Gooch used to say that about me. He used to say the bigger the crowd they better I play,” he said.
“But for some players it doesn’t matter, they will still deliver. We are talking about small percentages in performance.”
Meanwhile, Root is expected to miss the first Test of the three-match series if he chooses to attend the birth of his second child at the start of July with the first Test scheduled to begin on 8 July.
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