The England Test captain Ben Stokes will be missing the upcoming England Test series against Sri Lanka after sustaining a left hamstring tear while playing in The Hundred 2024 competition.
He will be missing the rest of England’s summer schedule while batting for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred competition against Manchester Originals on Sunday and was later seen on crutches. “The allrounder is aiming to return for England’s winter test tour of Pakistan,” said ECB in a statement.
Wishing you all the best in your recovery, Ben 👊
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 13, 2024
In a statement, the England and Wales Cricket Board said the Test captain “is aiming to return” for the tour of Pakistan in October. Meanwhile, Ollie Pope will be captaining the side and will lead his country in an international match for the first time.
Recently Ollie Pope has withdrawn from The Hundred to gear up for the upcoming test series against Sri Lanka starting next week. Stokes will not be replaced in the squad which could prompt Chris Woakes to bat at No.7 as England’s primary all-rounder, with Jamie Smith moved to six. Woakes averaged 70.25 from six test innings at seven and a hundred against India in 2018 and an unbeaten fourth-inning 84 against Pakistan two years later.
Jordan Cox is set to make his test debut if England opts instead for a four-man bowling attack. Stokes’ injury blow comes not long after he returned to his duties as an all-rounder. Having struggled with a knee injury problem that severely limited his bowling last year. Stokes picked 18 wickets in three County Championship matches for Durham and looked sharp when taking five more in the series win against West Indies.
England hopes the test captain will return for a three-test tour to Pakistan, his captaincy has been key in securing a 3-0 series win there in 2022. Currently, the Sri Lanka team has started their training for the upcoming England tests.
On August 13, SLC appointed former English batter Ian Bell as batting coach for the England test series. “We appointed Ian to bring in a person with local knowledge to help the players with key insights on the conditions there,” the Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive, Ashley de Silva, said.
The series will begin on August 21 in Old Trafford Cricket Ground with the following two tests will be played at Lord’s and the Oval.
