Ben Stokes will miss the rest of the English summer after sustaining a left hamstring tear while playing in the Hundred.
Stokes sustained the injury while batting for Northern Superchargers against Manchester Originals on Sunday, prompting scans on Tuesday and forcing the all-rounder out of the three-Test series against Sri Lanka, which begins next week at Old Trafford. In a statement the England and Wales Cricket Board said the Test captain “is aiming to return” for the tour of Pakistan in October.
The absence of Stokes for the Sri Lanka series means Ollie Pope, the vice-captain, will lead his country in an international match for the first time. Pope was withdrawn on Tuesday by the ECB from his own Hundred duties for London Spirit as he prepares to become the 82nd England men’s Test captain.
Stokes will not be replaced in the squad to face Sri Lanka, which could prompt Chris Woakes to bat at No 7 as England’s primary all-rounder, with Jamie Smith moved to six. Woakes averages 70.25 from six Test innings at seven, courtesy of a hundred against India in 2018 and an unbeaten fourth-innings 84 against Pakistan two years later.
The 35-year-old has not played in the Hundred this season and was pulled out of the competition by the ECB on Monday “due to the management of his workload”, his team, Birmingham Phoenix, announced.
Jordan Cox would be in line to make his Test debut if England opt instead for a four-man bowling attack. The Essex right-hander was named as the spare batter in the original 14-man squad, with Surrey’s Dan Lawrence opening in the absence of the injured Zak Crawley.
Stokes’s injury blow comes not long after he returned to his duties as an all-rounder. Having struggled with a longstanding knee problem that severely limited his bowling last year, surgery in November was followed by promising returns with the ball for the 33‑year‑old this summer. Stokes took 18 wickets in three County Championship matches for Durham and looked sharp when taking five more in the series win against West Indies. But progress has been halted after he pulled up while running a quick single at the weekend.
England will hope Stokes is back for a three-Test trip to Pakistan, his captaincy having been key in securing a 3-0 series win there in 2022. It was most notable on a flat pitch in Rawalpindi, where his side declared twice before taking the final wicket late on the final day. The first Test begins in Multan on 7 October.
For Pope, captaincy has been in the works since he was officially granted deputy status at the start of last summer. The 26-year-old has led Surrey once in first-class cricket, hitting 274 in a draw against Glamorgan in 2021, and captained the county earlier this summer in the T20 Blast.
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Pope’s year has brought mixed returns, a magnum-opus 196 against India in January followed by a best of 39 in his next eight innings. But the No 3 regained form against West Indies, with three 50+ scores including his sixth Test hundred, five of them coming after the appointment of Stokes as Test captain two years ago. Pope has spoken reverentially about the incumbent’s influence. Now it is his turn.
Sri Lanka have announced the former England batter Ian Bell as their batting coach for the three‑Test series. The 42-year-old, who played 118 Tests from 2004 to 2015, was part of New Zealand’s backroom staff when they visited England last summer for a white-ball tour before the 50-over World Cup.
“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.
England’s series against Sri Lanka begins on 21 August in Manchester, with the following two Tests at Lord’s and the Oval.