England captain Ben Stokes says he apologised to his players for showing his frustration like a “tired, grumpy old man” during the second-Test defeat to Pakistan, after dropped catches swung the game toward the hosts.
Stokes, back in the side for the first time in nine weeks after a hamstring tear, was visibly frustrated during Pakistan’s second innings as a spell of fielding errors cost England at a pivotal stage.
Salman Agha was dropped on four and six in the same Bryden Carse over by the usually reliable Jamie Smith and Joe Root, with the batter eventually going on to post 63 as Pakistan set England an ultimately unassailable target of 297.
Stokes, whose side slumped to a 152-run defeat with the three-Test series now level at 1-1, says it was the first time during his captaincy that he let his emotions show and it wouldn’t happen again.
“No one means to drop catches but it just proves how important catches are in these sub-continent conditions, they don’t come along that often,” Stokes explained to Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain and Ian Ward.
“I actually apologised to the group last night as you’re right, it’s the first time in my captaincy that I’ve let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
“I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It’s something that I don’t want to do or be seen to be doing so I apologised to the group about that.
“Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won’t see that happen again.”
England coach Brendon McCullum, though, says he was a “bit surprised” by Stokes’ apology.
“We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England,” McCullum stated. “We’ve seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.
“I think maybe that’s where some of that frustration led to, certainly it wasn’t directed at any of the players.
“It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game and to impact on it. But he’ll be better for the run no doubt. And I thought in the second innings (37 from 36 balls) he looked like he had that method where he looked like he was trying to control the game and put pressure on the opposition. He’s at his best when he’s doing that.”
McCullum backs ‘outstanding’ Smith after drop
After backing Stokes, McCullum also defended wicketkeeper Smith for his error.
“You will not get a tougher set of conditions to keep wicket on,” said McCullum. “Jamie’s very disappointed about dropping that catch. But you take that out, I thought his keeping was as good as I’ve seen in these conditions, particularly from a foreign wicketkeeper.
“He’s just continuing to impress, and obviously in both innings, he’s trying to put pressure on the opposition on that surface, which is very difficult, and that’s his natural game. He’s turning into a really big player for us and I’ve been super impressed.
“That’s where you got to have the ability to turn the page pretty quickly as well, because if you ever let your mistakes dictate your attitude and your confidence, then you’re in for a hell of a time.
“You’ve got to focus on the things you’ve done well and know that mistakes in this game are going to be part of it, but 99% of what Jamie has done in this Test match has been absolutely outstanding. And that’ll be the message to him.”
First Test: Multan – October 7-11 – England won by an innings and 47 runs
Second Test: Multan – October 15-19 – Pakistan won by 152 runs
Third Test: Rawalpindi – October 24-28
Watch the third and final Test between Pakistan and England live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5.30am ahead of the first ball at 6am on Thursday, October 24 as the sides head to Rawalpindi.
