Ben Stokes will miss England's upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka after tearing his hamstring in only his third Hundred appearance in three years.
Stokes absence comes in addition to Zak Crawley's, who will also miss the series after he fractured his thumb during the final Test match against the West Indies last month. Dan Lawrence, who has been England's de-facto spare batter over their last few Test series, is set to open the batting in his place. While Ollie Pope will stand in for Stokes as captain, his absence from the XI, however, provides a far harder challenge for the selectors to replace.
The surgery Stokes underwent on his knee at the end of last year has meant he's been able to play a far more active role with the ball for England than he has over the last few years. In just the three Test matches against the West Indies, he bowled more overs than he had over the preceding 12 months. In addition to the overs Stokes bowls, they also need to find someone capable of batting at least as high as seven, with Jamie Smith more than able to bat a position higher than he has.
Realistically, England aren't going to find their magic player to do both roles - further entrenching the 'gold-dust' aspect of a proper allrounder. They will most likely hand Jordan Cox a Test debut, and make do with three seamers, Shoaib Bashir and Dan Lawrence to send down some spin. There are other options though. Sam Curran could make a comeback three years after his most recent Test. There are also options on the county circuit, who perhaps have been overlooked in the past while Stokes has commanded a fixed hold as England's go-to allrounder.
Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the remainder of England's Test summer, after scans confirmed he picked up a tear to his left hamstring in Sunday's Hundred fixture.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 13, 2024
Ollie Pope will captain England in his absence.
READ: https://t.co/FUOYLZNpTq#ENGvSL pic.twitter.com/r3xTJnNl27
Ben Raine
The first county option is Stokes' Durham teammate Ben Raine. At 33, Raine has never had an England opportunity but has shown consistent performances across the last two Championship editions. He was the leading-wicket in Division Two last year, as Durham mounted their extraordinary promotion-winning run. While slightly less prolific this year, he's still Durham's leading wicket-taker at this point in the season, with 22 scalps from eight matches. While Raine isn't a like-for-like replacement for Stokes, coming in lower down the order, usually at No.8, his batting shouldn't be overlooked. He scored his so-far only first-class century in the 2022, and hit a 41-ball ton in the T20 Blast back in 2018. In combination with Chris Woakes, Raine could be an option to provide some more depth to the lower-order.
Liam Dawson
Dawson's name inevitably comes up in discussion of the best all-rounders on the county circuit. After missing-out on England's tour to India over the winter, Dawson has continued his stellar domestic returns. He's averaging over 50 with the bat in the County Championship this year, with a century and four 50s so far, and is the joint fifth leading wicket-taker in the competition. As a spinner, he's again not a like-for-like replacement. But, he could free up a place for another seam-bowler by coming in at seven and allowing England to leave out Bashir.
Ed Barnard
Warwickshire's Ed Barnard also springs to mind as an option. Barnard comes in at No.6 for Warwickshire and is so far having a stellar season with the bat. He's scored two centuries and averages 47.71 with the bat, as well as having scored two centuries so far in the One Day Cup. While he's had less success with the ball in the last couple of seasons, he's arguably the replacement who offers the most equal promise in both departments.
Jordan Clark
A vital part of Surrey's Championship-winning machine, Clark is another veteran who could've been given a call-up late in his career. He's another one who offers more with the ball than the bat, but is more than capable of combining with Woakes in the lower-order. Since joining Surrey in 2019, he holds both bowling and batting averages at a shade under 30, and showed the aggressive style the England management favour with a 102-ball 106 against Hampshire this year.
Lewis Gregory
Gregory played three ODIs for England in 2019, and led Trent Rockets to victory in last year's Hundred. He also captained England Lions against Australia in 2019, taking four wickets in the match which ended in a draw. Gregory was named Somerset's Championship captain this year, with the side currently in second position in the table. His own returns have been middling if not quite at his best. He's scored three half-centuries and taken 20 wickets across seven games.
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