Stokes ruled out of New Zealand Tests
Requires surgery on finger broken in IPL game lay-off for key player upsets England’s balance
Ben Stokes will miss England’s Test series against New Zealand because he needs surgery on a broken finger that will rule him out for up to three months.
Stokes was injured taking a catch for Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match on Monday, and a repeat X-ray and CT scan on Thursday revealed that he had fractured his left index finger.
It had been thought that Stokes might miss only six weeks, and could still be in contention to play the first Test against New Zealand, at Lord’s starting on June 2.
But a specialist hand surgeon has told Stokes he will require surgery, which the 29-year-old is set to undergo in Leeds on Monday.
He will miss both Tests against New Zealand, as well as the three Twenty20 internationals and three one-day internationals against Sri Lanka. He is also likely to miss the three ODIS and three T20IS against Pakistan, which conclude on July 20. Stokes was expected to have been rested for some matches anyway, with England conscious of the need to manage the workload of their multi-format players, but may have appeared in the T20s in preparation for the T20 World Cup in India in October.
He now faces a race to be fit for the first Test against India, which begins at Trent Bridge on Aug 4. England play five Tests against India, but, with the Hundred launching on July 21, Stokes could enter that series without any first-class cricket in five months, going back to England’s 3-1 defeat in India last winter.
Stokes should be available for the first Northern Superchargers game in the Hundred, on July 24. The
presence of such England stars has been identified as crucial to the success of the new competition.
While Stokes has a £1.7million contract with Rajasthan, he is unlikely to suffer much financially, as players take out insurance in the event of injury. The loss of Stokes for three months in a year that will culminate in the T20 World Cup and the quest to regain the Ashes is a major concern for England. There is a fear that he will be more susceptible to similar injuries in the future.
Yet, in a year in which England will play 16 Tests and aim to become the first men’s team to hold the ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup simultaneously, the timing could hardly have been better.
It is far from ideal, but if it gives such a wholehearted and indispensable cricketer an extended break – and ensures he still has more to give deep into the Ashes tour – England may yet come to be grateful.
Stokes’s absence will have major implications for the Test side against New Zealand, depriving them of the all-rounder who balances their team.
Without Stokes, England should be able to retain both Dan Lawrence and Ollie Pope in their Test XI, if they deem that four specialist bowlers are sufficient. One of the two may yet bat at No 3 – the only way of accommodating both in a fullstrength line-up when Stokes returns at five, with Joe Root at four.