STOKES CONFIDENT HE’S READY TO BOWL

England cricket captain Ben Stokes has no concerns over his ability to bowl in this summer’s Ashes.

Stokes’ long-standing left knee issue caused him problems during February’s tour of New Zealand and his recent time at the Indian Premier League proved frustrating.

All-rounder Stokes, 31, played only twice for Chennai Super Kings and sent down just one over for 18 runs during his IPL stint but ahead of this week’s one-off Test with Ireland at Lord’s, he is confident he can have an impact when the Ashes begins on June 16.

He said: “Yeah, look the knee is in much better place than it was in Wellington.

“I’ve been in India for the IPL over the last nine to 10 weeks but what I have done is get myself into a position where I am not able to look back and regret or say I have not given myself the best opportunity to play a full role with the ball this summer.

“I have worked incredibly hard with the medical team in Chennai, who were liaising with the ECB guys and got myself into a place where I feel like I am back in a 2019, 2020 space in terms of my own body and fitness.

“I have definitely given myself the best opportunity, but the mind and body are different things.

“But yeah, I have given myself the best chance.”

Quizzed on whether an operation would be required in the longterm, Stokes insisted managing it was the answer and confirmed he could have a cortisone injection this summer if needed, like he had before the IPL started in March.

“We know what it is and it is about managing it,” Stokes added.

“No (operation), it is just managing it with workload and working out with medical team to get through it pretty much. Yeah, look I just said I don’t plan ahead too much. That is obviously medical side of things, but if needs be (an injection), yeah.”