Bayliss backs Stokes to recover from setback

Trevor Bayliss expects Ben Stokes to continue putting himself in pressure situations despite his harrowing experience in the World Twenty20 final. Stokes was the fall guy at Eden Gardens after taking the ball for the decisive final over of the tournament.
West Indies still needed 19 to win but Carlos Brathwaite tore into Stokes with four successive sixes, leaving the Caribbean side jubilant and the bowler crumpled in a heap.
It was immediately clear that Stokes, 24, would not bear his burden lightly, as he stared disbelieving and vacant into the Kolkata night, but Bayliss, the England head coach, is confident there will be no lasting damage.
A few hours later Stokes tweeted his thanks for the support he had received and the morning after Brathwaite himself offered some consoling words. As England flew out of India, Paul Collingwood posted a photo of him alongside a relaxed Stokes on the plane. Over the last 12 months, the form of Stokes has become central to England’s success with key match-winning performances against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa before the World T20. Bayliss is in no doubt that he would front up to a similar final-over situation again.
“He is one of those blokes – if we had a game tomorrow, he’d put his hand up to bowl the last over again,” the Australian said. “No one is blaming Stokesy for anything. To be honest, he is the heart and soul of this team. If everyone put in half as much as Stokesy does, we’d go a long way.
“You can’t fault Ben’s leadership in the team or the effort he puts in. It doesn’t matter whether he is batting, bowling or fielding, he gives you 100% until there’s nothing in the tank. The more of those type of cricketers we can produce, the better for England cricket.”
Stokes, not for the first time, found himself in an angry exchange with the West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels as the drama reached its conclusion. Samuels might have had the last laugh this time, and stressed as much in an inelegant press conference, but Bayliss will not look to calm Stokes’s nature. “I think there is a bit of history between those two from the last England tour to the West Indies,” he said. “Ben’s one of those players that feeds off that. Some players sometimes say things and they can’t really back it up. But Stokesy is one of those players … that’s what turns him on, that’s what gets his juices flowing and makes him as good as he is. “He’s not the only one around the world. There are a number of other players who do the same thing – almost create their own controversy, or whatever you want to call it, to psyche themselves up and get their head in the game. It brings the best out of him.”
England outstripped all expectations to reach the final of the competition and come within a few balls of lifting the trophy. They arrived as a team still in the early stages of transition under Bayliss, with limited tournament experience and several players who had never before set foot in India.
They never stopped believing they could achieve something remarkable, however, leaving their coach heartened both by what he has seen on the field and what he has heard from back home.
“We’ve had so many texts and emails already saying that cricket is back on the front page almost, back in people’s minds where maybe in the last year or two it hasn’t been,” he said.
“I think that support will carry on over into the players, the players will feel that and we’re looking forward to the summer now, and feeling that support. We certainly set out at the start of the tournament to play some good cricket and knew if we did that we would give ourselves one hell of a chance. That’s how it panned out.
“Obviously the final was disappointing but I’m extremely proud of the way they played through this last few weeks. As long as we keep playing good cricket and someone has to do something remarkable to beat us, we’ll win a lot of games.”