England captain Ben Stokes says Jofra Archer is “absolutely desperate” to return to Test cricket in the upcoming five-match home series against India, marking a possible comeback after more than four years. Archer last played a Test in February 2021. Since then, his career has been plagued by a string of injuries, most recently a … Read more
Headingley is one of England’s storied venues, with the Ian Botham Test from the 1981 Ashes, India’s memorable win in 2002 and Ben Stokes’ stupendous effort from 2019 coming immediately to mind. On Thursday, ahead of the first Test versus India, England skipper Stokes hoped for another blockbuster contest. “Headingley is generally the best overall … Read more
Who to pick at No. 3 out of Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell was widely regarded as England’s biggest selection poser heading into the highly anticipated, five-match Test series against India. Turns out, it wasn’t much of a headache for Ben Stokes. “It would be remarkable to choose someone else if their last knock was … Read more
Shoaib Bashir is preparing to shoulder England’s spinning burden against India even though the young bowler cannot even get into his own county team. The tall Somerset off-spinner is a fixture in Ben Stokes’ Test side but is behind left-armer Jack Leach in the Taunton pecking order. In fact, he often finds himself third choice, … Read more
For English cricket, 2025-26 will be a litmus test. The twin five-match series – first against India starting in Leeds on Friday and the second the Ashes in Australia later this year – present the biggest challenge for Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes ever since the coach-captain duo heralded the ‘Bazball’ era of high-risk, high-reward … Read more
England captain Ben Stokes, who leads his side in one-off Test against Zimbabwe on Thursday, has challenged his players to make the jump from second in the Test world rankings to first. It is now more than a decade since Andrew Strauss was the last England skipper to take the team to the summit, back … Read more
England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has quit drinking alcohol during his ongoing hamstring injury rehabilitation in an effort to be battle-ready for the upcoming Ashes series against traditional rival Australia. The cricketer said he gave up drinking at the start of the year in the hope abstinence would hasten his recovery from the injury. The … Read more
England’s Test captain Ben Stokes believes he is in his best ever physical condition and can dominate with bat and ball on his latest comeback from injury. The 33-year-old is set to return in a one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Nottingham next week. Stokes has not played since tearing his hamstring in New Zealand in … Read more
England cricket supremo Rob Key said on Thursday “it would be stupid” to rule Test captain Ben Stokes out of consideration for the role of skipper of the struggling white-ball team. Jos Buttler stood down last week following a poor display by the side at the ongoing 50-over Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan and the … Read more
England Test captain Ben Stokes on Tuesday said he had undergone surgery on his injured hamstring. The 33-year-old all-rounder tore his left hamstring during the third Test against New Zealand in Hamilton — England’s final game of 2024. That left Stokes requiring surgery and needing a three-month absence. On Tuesday, Stokes posted a picture on … Read more