England captain Ben Stokes maintains he will be ready to spearhead his team’s Ashes campaign, despite being sidelined from the series finale against India with a severe shoulder injury. Stokes was spotted gripping his right shoulder during the fourth innings of last week’s stalemate at Old Trafford but persevered to bowl 11 overs whilst clearly struggling.
He had initially remained optimistic about featuring in Thursday’s fifth Test at the Kia Oval, but medical scans uncovered a grade three tear – the most serious classification – meaning he now confronts six to 10 weeks of recovery. And whilst he will assume nothing more than a supporting role in the concluding match of a series where he has stood out as the standout performer, the medical guidance indicates he remains confident of returning in time for what has been described as a legacy-defining tour to Australia.
The Ashes begins in Perth on November 21, with England departing a fortnight beforehand, and he was swift to reassure supporters he planned to be present.
Stokes chose to conduct the captain’s pre-match press conference instead of vice-captain Ollie Pope, who will skipper the team against India with the side 2-1 in front, and was questioned directly about whether he anticipated being prepared.
“Yeah. It’s six or seven weeks probably,” Stokes said. “I’ll start rehabbing now and obviously focus on what we’ve got coming up in the winter. It’s a decent tear of one of the muscles I can’t pronounce. I woke up the morning after the game and it was pretty sore so I wasn’t surprised that the scan showed something.
“There was obviously a bit of emotion going in when you find out what you’ve done. I think you need time chatting with the medical team, Baz (head coach Brendon McCullum), and then it was just 20 minutes to myself out there in the morning, just to really be clear around the decision that we made.
“It is one of those where you’re weighing up the risk-reward and the risk was way too high for damaging this any further than it currently is. I wouldn’t expect to put any one of my players at risk with an injury like this. The series has taken a big toll.”
Stokes understands the challenges better than most regarding gruelling recovery periods. The 34-year-old went under the knife for a persistent knee problem in late 2023 and endured two severe hamstring injuries last year. He returned stronger than ever this summer, clocking up 140 overs with the ball and facing nearly 600 deliveries, but may have ultimately stretched himself beyond his physical limits.
Nevertheless, he harbours no regrets about shouldering such a demanding workload. “Not at all. When I’m out on the field I play to win and give everything I possibly can,” he said.
“If I feel there’s a moment in a game where I need to put everything I’m feeling aside, I’ll do that because that’s how much this team means to me, how much playing for England means to me, how much winning means to me. Being a professional sportsman, injuries are part of this game and I can’t do anything about that.”
Stokes’ unavailability paves the way for rising sensation Jacob Bethell to make his maiden Test bow of the campaign, having impressed during England’s tour of New Zealand in December before being confined to drinks duty since then.
This represents one of four alterations to England’s starting eleven, with Liam Dawson stepping aside just one match into his return whilst pace duo Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer have been given a breather.
Three new fast bowlers come into the fold, with Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton earning their debut appearances of the series on their Surrey home turf, whilst Josh Tongue returns having missed the previous two encounters.
“We’ve got a team of 11 match winners. One person doesn’t win you a game and just because I am playing or I’m not playing doesn’t mean we’re going to win or lose,” said Stokes.
“We’ve have seen people put in some pretty special individual performances and it’s another opportunity for another 11 people to hopefully put their hand up and win a game for England.”