"He's like the spiritual leader of the group" - Matthew Mott thrilled to have Ben Stokes for England's next 2023 World Cup game
England coach Matthew Mott has strongly hinted at all-rounder Ben Stokes' comeback for the upcoming clash against South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. Mott recalled how 'the spiritual leader' spoke about asserting themselves in the forthcoming games.
England suffered a shocking loss to Afghanistan in the 2023 World Cup game in Delhi. The Englishmen struggled on the surface that offered enough spin for the likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Mohammad Nabi. Rashid and Mujeeb shared three wickets as the defending champions fell short 69 runs off the target of 285.
Speaking on Tuesday ahead of facing the Proteas in Mumbai, the former Australian women's team's coach issued a positive update on Stokes' fitness. He elaborated, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"We've obviously been relatively conservative with him, but the medical staff were always confident that South Africa was a game we could target. I haven't had a report on him in the last 24 hours, but before that, he was on target.
"So fingers crossed, he can tick off all the things that need to be ticked off and he comes back into that side. He's like the spiritual leader of the group in many ways, and he certainly spoke really well after the game the other day, and spoke about that need to really assert ourselves."
Stokes, considered as the game-changer for them, displayed good form with the bat. He notably struck the highest individual score of 182 by an Englishman with the bat against New Zealand at The Oval.
"The boys are trying really hard" - Matthew Mott
The 50-year-old identified the lack of confidence and the importance of bouncing back after setbacks behind their two losses. He added:
"The boys are trying really hard. But the two things that we're probably missing are the confidence - to puff your chest out, go out there and really take the game on - and then it's just our general attitude, our ability to do the little things: bowl in partnerships when we're bleeding from one end… and then with the bat, just being a little bit braver."
The Proteas will also find themselves under some pressure, having lost to the Netherlands on Tuesday.