New Delhi: England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out for the rest of the summer after suffering a hamstring injury while participating in ongoing The Hundred. Ollie Pope will lead the Test team in his absence. England will play their first Test against Sri Lanka on August 21 at Old Trafford, Manchester. No replacement was added to the Test squad which was announced on August 4.
The all-rounder was left on crutches following the injury while batting for Northern Superchargers against Manchester Originals at Old Trafford on Sunday. Stokes had knee surgery in November and missed the T20 World Cup to be fully fit for the English summer.
He scored 192 runs at an average of 48 and picked five wickets against the West Indies in the first half of the home Test season. His brilliant all-round performance helped England to beat the Caribbean side by 3-0. England’s opening batter Zak Crawley was also ruled out of the Sri Lanka series due to a broken finger sustained while fielding against West Indies.
His injury provoked a fresh round of social media criticism of The Hundred as the England Cricket Board (ECB) regularly withdraws England players from the first-class County Championship or domestic limited-overs tournaments to protect their fitness for international assignments.
‘Ben Stokes aiming to return for Pakistan tour’: ECB
The ECB released a statement and said that Stokes will miss the Test series against Sri Lanka and will be aiming to return for England’s tour of Pakistan.
“England Men’s Test Captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out for the rest of the summer after tearing his left hamstring while playing for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred on Sunday. As a result of the scans conducted in Leeds on Tuesday, Stokes will miss England’s three-match Test series against Sri Lanka. The all-rounder is aiming to return for England’s winter Test tour of Pakistan, scheduled to start in early October” ECB said in a statement.
Ben Stokes suffered a hamstring injury in The Hundred while playing for Northern Superchargers and now has been ruled out of the remainder of the English Summer. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
