Ben Stokes gave a blunt response to the idea of introducing substitutions in cricket after Chris Woakes’ heroics at the end of the fifth Test between England and India.
Woakes appeared as England’s No 11 on the final day at The Oval, with his left arm in a sling after dislocating his shoulder chasing a ball to the boundary on Thursday. He grimaced with pain as he ran between the wickets in an effort to help Gus Atkinson over the winning line, but England fell just short, losing an enthralling match by six runs as the series ended in a 2-2 draw.
Woakes was replaced in the field throughout the match, but the laws of the game do not allow the replacement fielder either to bat or bowl. It meant England could not add a new batter to their line-up and were forced either to play with an injured player or with only 10.
And despite Woakes potentially causing himself further damage by taking to the field of play, England captain Stokes – who missed the fifth Test with his own shoulder injury – does not like the idea of subs in cricket.
“I don’t see it being a thing,” he said. “Sorry about this, but if somebody gets injured: tough s***.”
Stokes spoke on the topic last week, suggesting that the idea was “absolutely ridiculous” and that “there would be just too many loopholes” which could be exploited to change a game.
And he added on Monday: “I could’ve gone into this with a sore shoulder [saying] ‘I’ll give it a go, hopefully I’ll come through, but if I don’t then somebody comes in’. [Then] you select a team tactically and I think you could manipulate it. The injury ruled me out of this game.
“Maybe if we had this option [of subs], I could’ve said, ‘I know it’s not worth it, but if I do go down, somebody can come in’. I couldn’t risk this. If I go down in the game, it ruins the make-up of the team. I’m still heavily against it. It’s just sod’s law it happened a week after I said it.”
On Woakes’ decision to put himself in the line of fire, Stokes added: “Unbelievable, yes, but it was never going to be a question. To go out there, running between the wickets, but we've had guys, Rishabh [Pant], broken foot, Bash [Shoaib Bashir] with a broken finger, and Chris going out there with a recently dislocated shoulder. It shows how much energy and effort has been put into this series.”
