Ben Stokes has been ruled out for at least three months with the hamstring injury he sustained bowling for England during the third and final Test against New Zealand last week.
England’s Test captain had pulled up on day three in Hamilton delivering the second ball of his 37th over of the match, his biggest workload in a single Test in two-and-a-half years.
Having undergone a scan two days later, it has been revealed that the 33-year-old has torn his left hamstring and will need surgery next month to fix the issue.
The i Paper understands he will be out until at least the start of the English county season in April and possibly longer than that if there any are complications in his recovery.
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Read MoreThe severity of the injury was evident on Sunday when it was cited as the reason why the Durham all-rounder had been left out of England’s squad for their upcoming white-ball tour of India in the new year and Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February and March.
An England statement released last night confirmed: “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 is a recurrence of the same injury Stokes sustained playing in the Hundred last August.
Ben Stokes suffered the injury while bowling in the third Test vs NX (Photo: AP)Despite returning to action for England two months later in their Test series in Pakistan, Stokes later admitted he had “physically ruined” himself getting back so quickly.
No chances are being taken this time with England facing a huge home Test series against India next summer and an Ashes series in Australia after that. But this latest setback raises serious questions about whether Stokes really can return to being a full all-rounder in Test cricket.
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Read MoreAs well as missing the Champions Trophy, he will also now be unable to fulfil his £800,000 deal to play for MI Cape Town in next month’s SA20 tournament in South Africa.
Posting on X, Stokes reacted to the news by saying: “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 f— some s— up.”
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