Lord Ian Botham has reopened his war of words with recently retired England captain Ben Stokes following England's poor performance in the Ashes in Australia. Botham criticised England's lack of preparation ahead of the Ashes series last winter, which led to Stokes calling him and Michael Vaughan 'has-beens'. England lost the series 4-1 amid off-the-field issues over late-night drinking sessions and breached curfews.
Botham, who scored 5,200 runs and took 383 wickets in 102 Tests, said he did not like the way Stokes resigned as captain in the middle of a Test match against New Zealand and stood by his previous comments. Stokes responded that the team had not been preparing for the tour over the last three weeks and had put thought and process into it for a few years, adding that there are factors that play into why they cannot prepare how the 'has-beens' maybe prepared in the past. Botham, who was part of two victorious tours of Australia in 1978-79 and 1986-87, was speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to promote his new book, Seasons, where he said Stokes let himself down in the final couple of months and criticised the team's behaviour in Noosa, including breaking curfews and going on the lash during days off.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing