England captain Ben Stokes feels that his bowling workload has nothing to do with his latest injury during the 3rd test of England’s tour of New Zealand 2024.
Stokes picked a hamstring injury on December 16 after increasing his bowling workload during the match against the Blackcaps.
But he has claimed that he won’t be cutting down on bowling after his latest injury setback. The England test captain has previously missed four tests due to a torn hamstring sustained during The Hundred in August.
He was then ruled out of further participation in the match after aggravating the same injury on Monday. He had been given workload compared to the first two tests bowling 24 overs in New Zealand’s first innings.
The skipper sidelined 💔
An update on Ben Stokes from our Head Coach 👇
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 17, 2024
The setback occured two deliveries into his 13th over during New Zealand’s second innings, leaving England without their captain for the remainder of the game. The visitors would end up losing the game by 423 runs.
Ben Stokes said that it was unfortunate to sustain the injury, but it is something that is part of the process of being an athlete.
“It’s just one of those unfortunate things. I ain’t holding back. Every time you walk out on the field you’re at risk of injury. You can’t play for anything in this game.”
Stokes revealed that he was incredibly frustrated after sustaining the injury as he had felt he was back in rhythm with the ball in hand.
“There’s no doubt I was incredibly frustrated last night, in particular with how much graft I’d put in until then,” said Stokes.
“I felt so good about everything. I felt my rhythm was back with the ball, I bowled a lot of overs, my body was feeling good. The first time I feel like a young man again is when I pick something else up.”
“I’m obviously very disappointed, but every setback I come back stronger,” told Stokes.
“There’s no doubt I’ll be going away from here, working [hard] as I always do and getting myself back to where I was in this game.”
England’s next assignment in Tests will be a one-off game against Zimbabwe in May 2025.
