Southampton, Sep 8 (IANS) With England likely to name their squad for the Ashes towards the end of this month, head coach Brendon McCullum said skipper Ben Stokes has been ensuring he gets as ‘making sure he gets as fit as what he possibly can’ for the all-important five-match series.

Stokes has been recovering from a right shoulder injury sustained after the fourth Test against India in Manchester and has been out since then. With England to start the Ashes in Perth on November 21, Stokes is unlikely to play any competitive cricket before then.

“Stokesy will be training his arse off as he always does, and making sure he gets as fit as what he possibly can… The last series we saw from Stokesy is probably the best series he’s had as captain, so that’s a good sign. We know that for us to be competitive down in Australia, a fit, firing and motivated Ben Stokes is going to give us every chance,” said McCullum to reporters on Monday, at the conclusion of England’s 2-1 ODI series loss to South Africa.

McCullum also claimed that he does not yet have a team in his head for the first Ashes Test, especially on taking Jacob Bethell as a reserve batter. “We will work that out when we get to Australia. We’ve got a few other fish to fry before we get there. We’ve said about Jacob since we introduced him that he’s got a huge future in front of him.”

“He’s very quickly taken to international cricket, and things have come really quickly for him as well. He’s going to have some life: 21 years of age, and being able to play like he does.”

“I want to celebrate the fact that his first ever professional hundred has been scored in the England jumper at the age of 21. I think (David) Gower’s the only other one (to score an ODI hundred for England at 21), and he was a pretty good player. We’ll see where Jacob ends up,” he elaborated.

Bethell is set to feature in England’s T20Is against South Africa before captaining the side in Ireland, where he will become their youngest-ever skipper. He is also expected to join the England team for their white-ball tour of New Zealand. “It’s a tremendous honour for him and we’ve put him in that position because we feel he’s got leadership qualities,” added McCullum.

–IANS

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