Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test against England

(AFP): England captain Ben Stokes said Saturday he will miss the first Test against Pakistan starting next week, after failing to recover from a hamstring injury.

The 33-year-old Stokes has been out since the start of August with a hamstring tear suffered during The Hundred, missing his team’s 2-1 home Test series win against Sri Lanka last month.

Top-order batter Ollie Pope, who led the side against Sri Lanka, will stand in again for the first of three matches starting in Multan on Monday.

“I tried my hardest to get myself fit for this game,” Stokes told reporters. “But have taken the call to miss this one because I’ve not quite managed to get the game ready.”

All-rounder Stokes was at team practice on Friday and Saturday, batting in the nets and bowling a few deliveries with a short start. But the skipper said he was “not sure” he would participate in the second Test — also in Multan and slated for October 15.

“I’ve pushed myself incredibly hard and worked really hard with the medical team to get to where I’m at now,” he said. “I think I’m further ahead than what we expected. I’ll be working just as hard over the next ten days to try to get myself fit for the second Test.”

Late last month, the England and Wales Cricket Board said Stokes had been “on track” to play against Pakistan. “There is a lot that has to go into my rehab programme,” he said. “It’s always frustrating to miss out.”

With Stokes out, England announced their eleven for the first Test, giving pace bowler Brydon Carse his debut in the longer format.

The tourists will enter the Test with three pacers in Carse, Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes, alongside the spin duo of Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir. Opener Zak Crawley also returns to the squad after missing the Sri Lanka series with a fractured finger.