Chris Woakes says leave pre-Ashes controversy off the field

England
arrived
in
Australia
as
Azeem
Rafiq
detailed
allegations
of
institutional
racism
he
experienced
at
English
captain
Joe
Root’s
Yorkshire.

Wicketkeeper
Tim
Paine
then
quit
as
Australia
captain
before
taking
a
leave
of
absence
after
a
sexting
scandal
surfaced.

Woakes,
an
all-rounder
who
is
fighting
for
a
spot
in
the
side
to
play
at
the
Gabba
in
Brisbane
beginning
December
8
in
the
first
of
five
tests,
said
the
Ashes
rivalry
naturally
raised
the
stakes.

But
he
said
to
use
either
issue
as
on-field
banter,
or
sledging,
would
be
out
of
line.

“I
think
what’s
happened
in
both
camps,
a
lot
of
the
issues
are
personal
and
cricket
is
played
best
when
that
sort
of
stuff
is
left
to
the
side
and
we
let
the
skills
do
the
talking,”
he
said
Thursday
(December
2).

“Whatever
goes
on
on
the
field,
goes
on
the
field,
and
the
Ashes
raises
that
rivalry.

“But
in
my
experience,
playing
in
three
Ashes
series,
it’s
not
overstepped
the
line
once
when
I’ve
been
around.
I’m
sure
the
cricket
will
be
hard
fought,
as
it
always
is,
and
will
be
good
to
watch.”

Stokes
return
a
‘great
boost’
for
England
–
Leach

England’s
squad
had
some
unexpected
time
in
the
middle
on
Thursday
(December
2)
at
Brisbane’s
Ian
Healy
Oval,
which
was
due
to
host
the
tour
match
against
the
England
Lions
from
Tuesday
(November
30).

But
consistent
rain
washed
out
the
first
two
days
of
play,
and
just
29
overs
were
possible
in
last
week’s
three-day
tour
match,
also
in
Brisbane.

But
the
skies
cleared
and
James
Anderson,
Stuart
Broad
and
Ben
Stokes
finally
got
a
chance
to
bowl
in
a
match
scenario,
Stokes
taking
2-31
and
the
openers
going
wicketless
as
the
Lions
finished
the
day
226-4.

Coming
off
a
mental
health
break
that
followed
an
injury-interrupted
season,
allrounder
Stokes
hadn’t
played
any
form
of
cricket
since
July,
while
his
last
test
match
was
in
March.

Zac
Crawley
top-scored
for
the
Lions
with
45
runs
while
three
other
batters
retired
not
out
in
the
30s.
The
match
will
continue
on
Friday
(December
3).

Australia
called
off
play
in
its
planned
intra-squad
fixture
that
was
due
to
be
played
at
Peter
Burge
Oval,
the
side
instead
completing
an
indoor
nets
session
at
the
National
Cricket
Centre.