England’s prominent all-rounder is set to feature in his first T20 Blast fixture since 2018 for Durham as he looks to regain cricketing fitness after recovering from a finger injury he suffered at the start of IPL 2021.
Stokes damaged his finger as he dived forward to pick up a catch at the start of Rajasthan Royals’ campaign in this year’s IPL. He was subsequently ruled out of the tournament. He didn’t have to spend around 12 weeks out of the action as was expected before the surgery.
“I’m able to bowl, I’m able to get in the gym and I’m able to hit some balls again. I’m at an exciting point of my recovery where full-on training is not that far away and then I can start thinking about playing in a match again.”
Stokes had written in his column for the Mirror last week, providing an update on himself.
While the ECB is yet to confirm Stokes’ comeback details in terms of the fixtures he will be required to play, ESPNcricinfo reported, the 30-year-old could “target one of the back-to-back 2nd XI T20s against Lancashire on June 14” and could also take part in at least one of Durham’s four T20 Blast matches scheduled between June 15-20.
England are likely to confirm their squad for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, starting June 23, later this week. Eoin Morgan and the company are expected to meet up for the series on the 19th.
While Morgan in March said he doesn’t expect England’s multi-format cricketers to be available for the summer white-ball fixtures, it seemsStokes and Jos Buttler could still be selected for the Sri Lanka series after being rested for NZ Tests after the IPL.
Depending on their clubs’ itinerary, players included in the Sri Lanka series but not in the second Test against New Zealand, could feature in up to six rounds of T20 Blast matches.
However, it would also mean Buttler and Stokes potentially playing more games in the T20 Blast this summer than the inaugural season of ‘Hundred’. The Test players will be playing a maximum of three matches during the league stage of the 100-ball competition, apart from the knock-outs.
Buttler last appeared for Lancashire in any form of the game back in 2018 and will be looking for a strong performance on Wednesday (June 9) against Derbyshire.
Besides Stokes and Buttler, the likes of Morgan, Adil Rashid, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Jordan, Jason Roy, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali will also be seen playing in the early rounds of the Blast. Even Dawid Malan and Joe Root will be partially available. Jofra Archer, though, will remain sidelined in the midst of a period of “intensive rehabilitation”.
