England Test captain Ben Stokes is set to miss at least the next three months of action after injuring his left hamstring during the recently concluded Hamilton Test.
On Monday evening (December 23), the ECB released a statement confirming the severity of Stokes' injury.
"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," it read. "The Durham all-rounder will undergo surgery in January.
"The injury occurred during the third Test in Hamilton, during England's recent 2-1 Test series victory in New Zealand."
It's the second injury Stokes' left hamstring has sustained in 2024. The England skipper missed four Tests – three at home to Sri Lanka, one in Pakistan – after picking up the same injury during The Hundred.
The injury ruled Stokes out of contention for a white-ball recall for next month's tour of India and the Champions Trophy that follows it under new limited overs coach Brendon McCullum, who now oversees the senior England teams in all three formats.
Stokes is now also ruled out of what would have been his first appearance in the SA20 with MI Cape Town. That was his sole overseas franchise commitment before the English Test summer; Stokes did not enter the 2025 IPL auction in order to focus on his build-up to the 2025 English season.
England's next Test assignment is against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge from May 22.
Stokes has been dogged by a series of injury concerns in recent times. As well as the other hamstring injury in 2024, Stokes spent the best part of two years managing a troublesome knee, at one point playing as a specialist batter for seven Tests on the bounce.
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