England captain prepares for three months out, with target of Zimbabwe Test in May
ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2025Ben Stokes, England’s Test captain, has described himself as “the Bionic Man” after undergoing scheduled surgery on his torn left hamstring.Stokes, 33, suffered a recurrence of the injury while bowling during England’s third Test against New Zealand in December, having first torn his hamstring while batting for Northern Superchargers against Manchester Originals in the men’s Hundred in August.That initial injury kept him out of action for two months, meaning that he missed England’s home Test series against Sri Lanka. He later admitted that his race to get fit in time for the team’s winter assignments in Pakistan and New Zealand had led him to “physically drain and ruin himself”.However, with England not set to play a Test until the visit of Zimbabwe in May, Stokes has committed to three months on the sidelines, including his omission from next month’s ICC Champions Trophy.At the time of his diagnosis, he vowed that he still has “blood, sweat and tears” left to give to the team, ahead of a defining 12 months that will feature five-Test series against India at home and Australia away.Now, he has posted a picture on Instagram, showing him lying on the back seat of a car in the aftermath of his surgery, wearing a large leg brace and supported by pillows.”Bionic Man for a while”, he added in the caption, alongside a laughing emoji, plus the sign-off: “In a bit…”.
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Stokes had bowled 36.2 overs prior to his injury in Hamilton, the most he has bowled in a Test since 40 at Trent Bridge in 2022 (also against New Zealand). On the first day of the Test, his 23 overs were the most he had managed in a single day, split between spells of eight, eight and seven.Having arrived into England’s home summer following successful knee surgery in October 2023, he bowled 49 overs across three Tests against West Indies, with five wickets that took him past 200 career dismissals.”I have to work so much harder on the physical side of the job to allow me to go out and do my job,” he had said ahead of the Hamilton Test, “but I got a good amount of overs in during the last two games and I am more confident about getting through a lot of spells in a day.”That is where I got to before I pulled my hamstring. I bowled nice in the summer, had a setback but now feel out of that and not worrying about anything else happening again. As you get older you think about your body a bit more but I work harder because I have to.”In addition to the Champions Trophy, Stokes has been forced to forego a lucrative £800,000 deal with MI Cape Town in the SA20, which begins on Thursday.
