Ben Stokes, the captain of England’s men’s Test cricket team, will not play in the upcoming three-match series against Sri Lanka. Instead, batter Ollie Pope will take over as captain for the series at home.
Stokes, who recently led England to victory against the West Indies with a 3-0 win, got injured during a match on Sunday in the Hundred competition.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement, “England Men’s Test Captain Ben Stokes will miss the rest of the summer season because he tore his left hamstring while playing for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred on Sunday.”
After the medical scans done in Leeds on Tuesday, Stokes will not be playing in England’s three-game Test series against Sri Lanka, which starts at Emirates Old Trafford on Wednesday, August 21. No new players will be added to the team for this series.
Stokes is hoping to play again for England in the three-game Test series against Pakistan in October 2024.
“The all-rounder is planning to come back for England’s winter Test tour of Pakistan, which is set to begin in early October. The tour includes three Test matches in Multan, Karachi, and Rawalpindi. England batter Ollie Pope will be the captain of the team while Ben is away,” the announcement said.
The first cricket Test match between England and Sri Lanka will begin on August 21 in Manchester. The second Test will be held at Lord’s on August 29, and the last Test is planned to start at the Oval on September 6.
Following the Sri Lanka matches, England will play against Australia in three T20 games and five one-day internationals at home. After that, they will go to Pakistan to play a three-Test series against the team led by Shan Masood.
The schedule shows that the first game of this series will be in Multan from October 7 to 11. Karachi will hold the second Test from October 15 to 19, and the third Test will happen at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from October 24 to 28.
England last visited Pakistan for a three-Test series in December 2022. Under the leadership of Stokes, they won all three matches against the team led by Babar Azam.
