Ben Stokes was supported off the field during Northern Superchargers’ clash against Manchester Originals on Sunday (August 11), retiring hurt to have his hamstring assessed for injury.
The England Test captain went to ground clutching the back of his left leg after completing a run in the early stages of the Superchargers’ innings. He was taken off the field by two members of support staff supporting him. Stokes had an operation on his left knee last year which has allowed him to play a more active role with the ball in matches over the last few months.
With England’s three-match Test series against Sri Lanka beginning in less than two weeks (August 21), should the injury prove to need a long recovery time, it’s likely Stokes could miss at least part of the series. That would leave Ollie Pope to stand is as captain, and leave England with a conundrum of how to replace Stokes without significantly weakening either their batting or bowling.
Ben Stokes pulled up his hamstring during the 2024 Hundred fixture between the Northern Superchargers and Manchester Originals, raising doubts over his participation in England’s upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 12, 2024
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How could England replace Ben Stokes for the Sri Lanka Test series
Jordan Cox
The most likely option England will go for is to use the spare batter they selected in their squad for the series. That would mean a Test debut for Jordan Cox, who was called-up to England’s red-ball squad for the first time in his career last week.
Cox has yet to make his senior debut in any format for England, but was included in their T20I squad which toured Pakistan in late 2022. In his most recent two Hundred games, Cox scored an unbeaten 46 followed by an unbeaten 61 for Oval Invincibles.
While Cox is more known for his explosive potential on the T20 franchise circuit, his form in this year’s County Championship has also been impressive. From nine matches, he’s scored 763 runs at an average of 69.36, including three centuries. The most impressive of those was a double against his former side Essex, who he left last year to join Kent.
Cox bats at four for Kent in the County Championship, and could slot in at five as a Stokes replacement. However, that would mean England are a seam-bowler down, with Harry Brook coming in at six and Jamie Smith at seven.
While only playing three seamers might not be a deal breaker, there is another way England could accommodate Cox as a replacement. With Dan Lawrence set to open the batting in place of Zak Crawley, England could replace Shoaib Bashir with another seamer, and rely on a combination of Lawrence and Joe Root to provide the spin attack.
Seam-bowling all-rounder
England are short on near like-for-like replacements for Stokes. There are no genuine allrounders to pick from either with international experience or with a significant run of form. The one England could choose to recall is Sam Curran, who hasn’t played a Test match since August 2021 and last played a first-class game for Surrey over a year ago.
Aside from Curran, England could choose to promote Chris Woakes as a seam-bowling allrounder and select an extra seamer. Olly Stone was recalled to the squad for Sri Lanka, having last been included in June 2021. The 30-year-old has suffered with injuries over the last few years, but has played five County Championship matches for Nottinghamshire this year.
England also have Matt Potts in their squad who they could choose to bring in. Potts played five Test matches across the 2022 summer, and featured in England’s win over Ireland at Lord’s last year.
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