Despite the fact that the flamboyant English all-rounder Ben Stokes was the one who triggered England’s victory in the Birmingham Test on Day 4 by taking wickets of Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, he looked emotionally drained. England will miss star allrounder for the second Test as he stands trial at Bristol Crown Court charged with affray.

As per the reports of ESPNcricinfo, that Stokes could rejoin his teammates if the case, which begins on Monday (August 6), is adjourned. Though unlikely, England has plans to reintroduce him, just in case. Nevertheless, Chris Woakes is likely to replace Stokes in the XI, and the uncapped Ollie Pope has been included in place of Dawid Malan.

After all these mishappenings, head coach Trevor Bayliss has urged his side to not be distracted. Instead, he has challenged them to make a play for the temporarily vacant “match-winner” slot. He said, “It will be interesting to see who can step up and take his place. Someone, or two or three guys, will have to step up and do the extra yards. That will be a telling factor for the next match.”

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Since the Bristol incident back in September last year, England has had to make do without Stokes on a few occasions, notably during last winter’s Ashes series in Australia. While Bayliss has no concerns that the case offers a distraction to those playing at Lord’s, the 4-0 hammering during the Ashes served as a reminder of what they lack in Stokes’ absence.

Though he only managed 21 and six with the bat against India, his two wickets in the first innings took out their middle order, before his four in the second sealed the match. Bayliss took time to champion Stokes’s mindset to shut out what lies ahead: “It’s absolutely no different to what we’ve seen before. You wouldn’t have known there was anything coming up. He’s been absolutely golden.”

Bayliss also singled out Sam Curran for praise after a glorious performance in just his second Test. He also becomes the first Englishman under the age of 21 to win a man of the match away in a Test. Bayliss, while impressed, was not surprised at Curran’s gumption.

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Bayliss further added, “He wants to be in the fight. Just like his brother. They want the ball, they want to do it with the bat. They just want it all the time. For us, he’s picked for his bowling. You can see in the way he plays that there’s a good chance of him being able to bat number six.”