The sight of Ben Stokes wincing in pain as he runs between the wickets or dives to retrieve a boundary-destined ball is ever-present when he takes to the field.
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While many of the ‘greatest-of-all-time’ performances were accentuated in part by their protagonists pushing through the pain barrier – Glenn Maxwell being the most recent example – Stokes’ pain threshold seems under constant threat by the ordinary. Judging by the grimaces and yelps during some of his exceptional innings over the last 18 months, what he puts his body through to produce them doesn’t bear thought.
But, there are signs that his determination to suppress the pain is starting to catch up with him. Having only been able to bowl in three of the eight Test matches he’s played this year, his status as an all-rounder is dwindling. The announcement of his ODI unretirement and subsequent record-breaking innings against New Zealand at The Oval reignited memories of 2019, and sparked hopes of a similarly successful World Cup campaign in India. But, by the time Stokes was fit enough to make the starting XI following a hip injury, England’s World Cup already had one wheel off the rails.
At the end of the tournament, Stokes announced he would undergo surgery on his left knee when he returned home. The recovery time, estimated at five to seven weeks, will have to be note-perfect if he is to be fit for England’s first Test against India at the end of January.
This week, Chennai Super Kings announced that Stokes will not play in the 2024 IPL in order to “manage his workload and fitnes”’. While he said upon his (first) retirement from ODIs last year that “three formats are just unsustainable for me now,” the trophies and financial reward on offer in all of those formats have, until now, proven difficult for him to resist.
Last winter was an exceptionally busy one for Stokes. Having almost single-handedly regenerated England’s Test team in a matter of weeks over the summer, he was soon on the plane to Australia for the T20 World Cup. Less than three weeks after lifting the trophy, and with an intervening sickness outbreak in the camp, England began their first Test in Pakistan. Being retired from ODIs at the time granted him a break from a three-match series in South Africa, but two Test matches in New Zealand marked the final requirement of Stokes’ international winter.
By that point, his knee had been a niggling concern for almost a year and a huge home summer awaited. Bazball vs the soon-to-be World Test Champions, and surely a passing thought that he would like a crack at retaining the World Cup at its end. With over three months to the next international assignment, that five to seven-week recovery time would not be under threat.
But, the pull and pressure of the IPL as Chennai Super Kings’ most costly auction purchase was too much. Even if he only managed two matches during the tournament, March spent training in India was preferable to a lay-off. How he manages his injuries is Stokes’ and the England management’s prerogative, but with a shot at retaining the T20 World Cup next year potentially equally appealing following what’s sure to be a gruelling five-match Test series in India, this time, the IPL has had to give.
England can’t get enough of Stokes. They haven’t been able to for the past decade. But, if he’s not ready to play in the first Test of the India series, having put off surgery for a seventh-place finish in the World Cup, the priorities seem skewed. That’s not to say if England had defended their trophy the opposite would be true, and even if Stokes does make it through in time to step out in Hyderabad, there will still be doubts over his full readiness. For too long, Stokes has pushed his pain to the bottom of the list, and it’s starting to catch up.
England’s World Cup fiasco was at least in part caused by an ‘it’ll be alright on the night’ approach, and the lessons from that need to be learned. The parallel with Stokes’ is that one day, his body won’t be alright when he really needs it to be, regardless of how much he suppresses those winces. And, as England’s Test captain in an era of red ball precedence, those priorities for Stokes have never been more important.
