Yahoo Finance England will not rush Ben Stokes back despite county comeback
England have no plans to bring forward Ben Stokes’s return to international duty, despite him making a successful comeback from injury at county level on Sunday.
Returning from a hand injury, Stokes played his first match for Durham since 2018. He scored 29 off 18 balls batting at No3 as Durham posted 185 for four against Birmingham Bears in the Vitality Blast.
Stokes then got through his full allocation of four overs with the ball, picking up one for 20, and took two fine catches.
England’s 12-match white-ball programme begins on Wednesday with the first of three T20s against Sri Lanka. Three ODIs against Sri Lanka and three against Pakistan then follow.
The ECB announced this morning that the three ODIs against Sri Lanka — at Durham, the Kia Oval and Bristol — will be part of the Government’s pilot scheme for the return of fans to sport, meaning a far greater crowd will be allowed than expected.
The plan is that Stokes will return only for the final leg, three T20s against Pakistan. Instead, he will rest and play for Durham, who could have him available for their next five matches.
England may yet have Jonny Bairstow available for Wednesday’s first T20. He is recovering well from an ankle injury picked up playing for Yorkshire.
Meanwhile, the fourth day of the World Test Championship Final between New Zealand and India at the Ageas Bowl was delayed by further rain, raising the possibility that a second full day would be lost.
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