Stokes Faces Setback: Injury Forces Captain to Undergo Surgery in January
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London, December 24 (NationPress) Ben Stokes has expressed his commitment to returning with greater strength after the England Test captain was declared unavailable for at least three months due to a torn hamstring. He remarked, 'so much more blood, sweat and tears to go through for my team.'
The 33-year-old cricketer sustained the injury during the third Test in Hamilton, part of England's recent 2-1 Test series win over New Zealand, and is scheduled for surgery in January.
According to a statement from England Cricket, 'England Men's Test captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of all cricket for at least three months after further assessments confirmed he has torn his left hamstring. The Durham all-rounder will undergo surgery in January.'
This marks Stokes' second hamstring injury in the latter half of 2024, having previously been injured during the Hundred competition, which also sidelined him from the home Test series against Sri Lanka and the initial Test on the tour of Pakistan.
Stokes shared on X, 'Something else to overcome… go on then!!!!!!!! I’ve got so much more left in this tank and so much more blood sweat, and tears to go through for my team and this shirt. There’s a reason I have a Phoenix permanently inked on my body. See you on the field to ... some shit up.'
Despite this injury setback, Stokes' Test career appears to remain intact since England will not be playing red-ball cricket until late May, when they host Zimbabwe for a one-off Test at Trent Bridge.
However, Stokes had already been excluded from England's ODI squad for the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled for February.
