- Ben Stokes Plans to Address Knee Injury After Ashes Series
- England’s All-Rounder Status in Question
- Jimmy Anderson’s Struggles and Stuart Broad’s Remarkable Performance
Ben Stokes intends to find a solution to his left knee injury following the conclusion of the Ashes series at the Oval so that he can return to bowling duties, with an eye on England’s trip to Australia in 2025-26, when his team will endeavour to win the urn abroad for the first time since 2010-11.
After this series concludes, with the fifth Ashes Test commencing on Thursday, England will not play another Test until January 25, 2024. Stokes will have nearly six months between the commencement of a five-match series in India and the need to address his fitness, allowing him to first take a vacation and then address his fitness. “I want to resolve this issue,” he said.
“During the time I’ve seen specialists and such, there has been cricket, so as long as it’s been manageable, we’ve continued. But I believe now is a good moment to have serious discussions with medical professionals about what I could potentially do [so I can bowl without worrying about my knee]. During this time off, we will be able to have these discussions.”
Stokes bowled 14 overs at Edgbaston and 15 overs at Lord’s in the first and second Ashes Tests, respectively, and said he felt “pretty broken” by the conclusion of the second match.
After that match, England restructured their squad to include an additional seamer, allowing Stokes to avoid bowling altogether, and went on to win at Headingley and dominate a rainshortened match at Old Trafford. They have named an unaltered team for the final match of the series at the Oval, but Stokes has no intention of giving up his all-rounder status permanently.
“I’ve been doing this since I was a child,” he said. “Because of my desire to be involved with the game, I perform at my best. The inability to have the same impact and perform the same role as I have for the past decade has been frustrating over the past few years. Therefore, it is something that I would like to be able to do, and I hope that it can be resolved; however, I forget every day that I’m ageing.”
Australia holds a 2-1 series advantage heading into this match, so England must win in order to tie the series and prevent the tourists from claiming the Ashes on English soil for the first time since 2001. But regardless of the final result, Stokes believes his team has an opportunity to improve its terrible away record when the two teams meet again.
In 201011, Andrew Strauss led England to a 3-1 victory in Australia, but in five other visits this century, England has won just one game, lost 22 others, and tied once.
“The way this series has gone and how close we’ve been makes you believe that when we go to Australia we have a better chance than the last time we were there,” Stokes stated. “It would be nice to go out there in 2025 and have a good chance of winning.”
Jimmy Anderson, who turns 41 on Sunday, will play in the decisive final game despite his poor performance in the series thus far. In three games, he has taken four wickets at an average of 76.75 and a strike rate of 171, whereas no other English seamer has an average or strike rate above 30.2 or 61.6.
“He has not been bowling poorly, but he has not received the rewards he deserves,” said Stokes. “We understand Jimmy’s actions. He ties up an end, even though that is not his primary objective, because he is so relentless with his line and lengths, and I feel bad for him. He has still bowled like Jimmy Anderson, but he has not received the usual rewards.
Stuart Broad is the leading wicket-taker in the series and will become the only specialist bowler to play all five games for England, continuing an extraordinary run – the last home Ashes Test the 37-year-old did not play in was the 2005 finale at the Oval.
“He’s put in some incredible performances, and he’s also been very good at coming on with the ball and changing the game,” said Stokes. It was always going to be difficult for one bowler to participate in every game, but he’s been phenomenal.
