England all rounder Ben Stokes spoke on Saturday (27th August) ahead of the third ODI against Pakistan in Nottingham on Tuesday (30th August).

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ben Stokes, England all rounder:

(on making his comeback as a bowler in the third ODI):

"Yeah, I mean the plan from the start was to be fit and ready to bowl by the third ODI and by the way things are going it's looking likely that I'll be an option for Eoin (Morgan - England ODI captain) if needed, but yes, as I say, I've done all the prep (preparation) needed to get myself fit, and put my hand up to say I'm fit to bowl."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ben Stokes, England all rounder:

(on not being able to bowl in the first two games):

"It's so boring. Honestly. Yeah, it makes the fielding innings seem a lot longer. Obviously if you bowl ten overs it takes 20 overs out of the game. But obviously I pride myself on my fielding as well. So there's one thing that keeps me switched on the whole time is that I don't want to give away any runs - and I want to try and stop as many as possible. So priding myself on my fielding has got me through the fact that I'm not bowling."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ben Stokes, England all rounder:

(on being selected as a batsman in the first two ODIs):

"Yeah, I mean I was a bit surprised that I got the nod ahead of Jonny (Bairstow) especially after the Test series he's had, not just against Pakistan, but literally against South Africa. You know - he's shown amazing form in terms of the runs he's scored. But, at the same time it's nice to get that confidence from your captain and your coach saying that they want you to play as an out and out batsman. So yeah, I've wanted to put my hand up and make some runs in these first two."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ben Stokes, England all rounder:

(on what he has been working on):

"I think sometimes I get drawn into trying to be too impressive too early. Something that I have learned is that I can give myself time - I don't need to be going out and trying to reverse sweep, sweep for 4, sweep for 6 and all this kind of stuff. And just try to rotate the strike. You know, singles are just as valuable as boundaries in Test cricket, by rotating the strike, and not letting the bowler settle. I've also worked hard at my defensive game. After the UAE tour where I struggled especially against the spin. It's something that I pointed out to myself that I need to work on, especially with the winter I've got as well."