Ben Stokes has taken a swipe at the advertising around the boundary rope after the part they played in ending Reece Topley’s World Cup.
And Stokes has called on the game to find a safer solution than the triangular shaped covers currently used which Topley landed on trying to take a boundary catch and seriously damaged his left ankle ligaments.
The padded foam triangles are 20cm in height, five times that of the traditional rope, and are designed to provide maximum exposure to sponsors with their names blazoned on both sides. It was Topley’s misfortune to land awkwardly enough to ruin his World Cup hopes, and he is flying home on Friday.
“It’s stupid,” said Stokes. “Unfortunately, it’s taken one of our players to be ruled out of the World Cup to make people notice.
“I’m pretty sure it’s something they can look at but you know what it’s like – everybody wants to get their names on somewhere.
“But you look at player safety and the fact he’s stood on it and it’s ruptured ligaments and now he’s out of the World Cup – it should be looked at.
“It’s a shocker for Reece. We actually said last night in the group, Jos made a really good point at how many more ICC events there are in the next three years.
“Undoubtedly, he will be playing a part in future ICC events and you look back at the summer he has had, all the ups and downs with his injuries, he’s had an amazing year.
“We are all just absolutely gutted for him that he’s missed out on this World Cup because he would have been one of the first names on the team sheet after the way he’s performed.”
