Ben Stokes defends decision to drop Stuart Broad from first Test

London:England's stand-in captain Ben Stokes has said that he won't regret the exclusion of Stuart Broad from the team despite losing the first Test against the West Indies as it would give a wrong message to the other players in the team.England lost the first Test match of the three match series-opener by four wickets against the West Indies.

The inclusion of Jofra Archer ahead of senior pacer Stuart Broad in the series-opener caused huge uproar. Broad minced no words in railing the decision, saying he felt ''angry, frustrated and gutted''. 

''I've been frustrated, angry and gutted because it's quite a hard decision to understand. I've probably bowled the best I've ever bowled in the last couple of years. I felt like it was my shirt, having been in the team through the Ashes and going to South Africa and winning there,'' Broad had said after missing out on the Southampton Test.

Now Broad has reacted on Stuart's Broad's emotional interview after being shunned and called it a natural reaction. He also lauded the senior pacer's burning desire to play for England.

''Stuart's interview was absolutely brilliant. For a guy who has played over 100 Tests and taken the amount of wickets he has to have that emotion and desire still burning inside is amazing,'' Stokes told BBC Sport.

Broad has picked 485 wickets in 138 Tests and 178 in 121 ODIs.

Stokes defended the selection for the first Test, which marked the resumption of international cricket since March.

''In terms of the selection, if I was to regret that it doesn't send a very good message to the guys who played. We went with the decision that pace would do better for us in the long run on this game.You make decisions and you've got to stand by them. I'm not the type of person to look back and regret them,'' he said. (UNI)