Ian Botham stands by his criticism of Ben Stokes following England's 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia. Botham said Stokes "let himself down" due to broken curfews and poor preparation. He remains unbothered by Stokes calling him a "has-been" and insists the team failed to focus during the difficult tour.
Former England all-rounder says he is "not bothered" by Stokes' 'has-beens' jibe and insists curfews were broken during the 4-1 defeat in Australia
Former England cricketer Ian Botham has refused to back down in his war of words with Ben Stokes, saying he stands by his criticism of England's Ashes preparation and believes the former captain let himself down during last winter's 4-1 defeat in Australia.
The dispute resurfaced when Botham, speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to promote his new book Seasons, was asked about Stokes' mid-Test resignation against New Zealand. The former England all-rounder said he did not approve and stood by his original comments, which prompted Stokes to label him and Michael Vaughan "has-beens" during the Ashes tour.
"You have got a situation, starting from the beginning when he had a go at myself and Michael Vaughan in Melbourne because we said they had not prepared properly. They played two and a half days of cricket in the build-up to taking on Australia in Perth," Botham was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
Botham was scathing about England's conduct off the field, pointing to late-night drinking sessions and breached curfews that overshadowed the campaign. "He's a bloody good cricketer and he played well but he let himself down in those final couple of months," Botham said. "The team going 2-0 down in Australia, one of them in two days. For me to be then seen at Noosa, one of the most popular places in Australia to holiday and, we have got five days off on the lash. I just thought that was poor. Curfews, well, they were set and they were broken."
Botham also addressed the line in his book that reignited the feud. "In the book, I just said that right at the end, a throw away line, 'Well, well, well, Ben Stokes, you are now a member of the has-been team'. Didn't go down too well, not that I'm bothered."
He contrasted the current generation's behaviour with his own experiences of touring Australia, where players socialised at wineries between matches. "That's out of visual and we were actually winning, so we could have paraded ourselves around a bit if we wanted, but we didn't," he added.