As long as he keeps quiet, I won’t start anything: Marlon Samuels on Ben Stokes

09/04/2017

BCCI

West Indies’ Marlon Samuels has already added fuel to fire by warning England’s Ben Stokes to stay away from him when they meet in the limited overs format later this month. Following the final Test at Lords, West Indies will play one T20 and five-match ODI series against England.

With West Indies scheduled to face England in the limited over series this month, the limelight will solely be on Marlon Samuels and Ben Stokes with fans hoping to see a reignition of the old rivalry that started back in 2015.

In 2015, England were on their tour of the Caribbean and Joe Root’s classy century had given England a lead in the second Test. But, the game had hogged all the attraction for the continuous on-field battles between Stokes and Samuels. Their recurring verbal spat had even alerted the umpires in the middle when the infamous salute took place.

Stokes was dismissed for a petty right run and as he passed Samuels while returning to the pavilion, the West Indian hard hitter clutched his hat to his chest and raised a hand to his temple, saluting his departure. Now, with West Indies visiting England, Stokes will surely have a chance at getting back at Samuels, although it relies on him remaining injury free and gets selected for the series.

Samuels seems to have already started relishing the opportunity. When asked about the possible face off, the 36-year-old said, “As long as he keeps quiet, I won’t start anything, so if anything does happen that means he has said something to me first. I’m going to come to England and be a good boy … at least for the start of it.”

Both have faced each other in the Indian Premier League after that but nothing really happened and Samuels would hope it stays that way. “I saw him during the IPL this year and he didn’t say anything. I hope he can continue on that path. If not, I have things in place.”

West Indies are currently on the ninth spot in the ODI team rankings which means that an automatic qualification for the World Cup would require a monumental effort from the visitors. Samuels has been absent from the side owing to the stricter selection policies.

“No, I’m not very happy because I’ve been playing ODI cricket for the last few years then they come up with this rule of playing 10 games to qualify to play – that never makes sense. We need our best players. You have to bend the rule and compromise. You can’t treat everyone the same,” said Samuels.

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