LONDON: England may have been enjoying a rare good day in the Ashes with David Malan and Jonny Bairstow putting the Australian bowlers under pressure in Perth, but another good knock would not have gone unnoticed in the dressing room. The side’s outcast Ben Stokes returned to form in dramatic fashion, smashing 93 off 47 balls in New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition. Stokes, banned from international duties over an alleged fight outside a nightclub, is seeking to retain match fitness with a stint at New Zealand provincial side Canterbury.
He had struggled for runs with only 36 in three one-day outings, but hit a rich vein of form helping Canterbury to 217 for nine against Otago. Stokes scored 93 in 47 balls, including seven sixes and six fours as his side claimed an easy victory. The 26-year-old was unable to join his England team-mates for the series in Australia after being barred from international cricket over an alleged fight outside a Bristol nightclub. British police have passed his case to prosecutors for “charging advice,” a process that could take weeks.
The Ashes: Stokes back in the runs
The Ashes: Stokes back in the runs
Liverpool’s Slot says football must do more after Vinicius racism allegation
- The Dutchman said Jeremie Frimpong is still out this weekend but fellow defender Joe Gomez is ready to start if needed
Liverpool manager Arne Slot says more needs to be done to avoid racism in football following allegations by Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr that he was subjected to racist abuse from Benfica’s Argentine winger Gianluca Prestianni.
Real’s 1-0 Champions League playoff first-leg win at Benfica on Tuesday was overshadowed by Vinicius accusing Prestianni of directing a racist slur at him, a charge denied by the Portuguese club, the player and their manager Jose Mourinho.
European soccer’s governing body UEFA said it was reviewing the incident, which led to the game being halted for 11 minutes under FIFA’s anti-racism protocol.
“In general you can never do enough, you can always do more to make sure this (racism in football) never happens again,” Slot told reporters ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League visit to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
“We have to try as a football community to do more than society does. That’s maybe not so difficult, by the way. Protocol was followed in the game, that’s the first step,” he said on Thursday.
“I would hope my players would act in a similar way — immediately address it, and the referee acts in a similar way.”
Regarding the Forest game, Slot expects a different set-up under the Midlands club’s new manager Vitor Pereira compared to the meeting in November when Liverpool lost 3-0 at Anfield.
Former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Pereira was appointed last Sunday to replace the sacked Sean Dyche.
“We only have tonight (Thursday) to see if this new manager changes personnel,” Slot said, referring to Forest’s first game under Pereira at Fenerbahce in a Europa League playoff tie.
“The good thing is they have that game, and the manager was in the Premier League last season.”
The Dutchman said Jeremie Frimpong is still out this weekend but fellow defender Joe Gomez is ready to start if needed.
Slot said his side have improved over the past few months, with Liverpool sixth in the table on 42 points from 26 games.
“We have improved compared to three, four months ago. We are in a much better place than months ago,” the 47-year-old added.
“There are more reasons, but the most simple two are how fit we are and that we’re much better at set-pieces at the moment.”
Forest are languishing in 17th spot, one place and three points above West Ham United in the relegation zone.
