Ben Stokes 'excited' to have plenty of fast-bowling options in arsenal

image-le5fmj03Stokes has won 9 matches out of 10 for England [Twitter]

England skipper, Ben Stokes is 'ecstatic' to have plenty of options in the pace department, ahead of a busy summer.

Stuart Broad is back in the England XI for the first Test against New Zealand, and he'll partner James Anderson and Ollie Robinson. However, Stokes reckons that going ahead, he needs to have all the options available, especially with The Ashes right around the corner.

The schedule is tight for the England Test side, with five Ashes Tests to be played in six-and-a-half weeks, and a solitary Test match to be played against Ireland right before The Ashes.

When Stokes took over as the England captain, he had more than half of his pacers down with injury. But with a hectic schedule coming up, the pacers are fit and raring to go and Stokes is jubilant with it.

"We've got a great crop of fast bowlers coming through England at the moment and it's exciting. It's a great place to be in now, considering the first game we had last summer when we probably had only three or four seamers to pick from. I'd rather be in a position where I'm scratching my head about who to pick," Stokes said to SKY Sports.

"The one thing I did say to the medical team is just give me eight fast bowlers to choose from. We always want variety in our bowling line-up. We've got Jimmy (Anderson) and Broady (Stuart Broad) with experience and you want some kind of X-factor in there," Stokes added.

Stokes also added that he wants to see the England playing style blueprint in the domestic circuit as well. The team has adopted an aggressive playing style - The Bazball approach, and Stokes believes that England aspirants should play fearless, attacking cricket.