England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out for the rest of the summer after picking up an injury while playing in The Hundred on Sunday.
Stokes, who underwent medical scans in Leeds earlier on Tuesday, has torn his left hamstring and will miss the three-match series against Sri Lanka.
The first Test begins on Wednesday 21 August at Emirates Old Trafford, the same ground that Stokes picked up his injury.
Attempting a quick single while batting against the Manchester Originals, he pulled-up clutching his left leg and required assistance to leave the field.
The all-rounder is aiming to return for England’s winter Test tour of Pakistan, scheduled to start in early October which includes three Test matches in Multan, Karachi, and Rawalpindi.
The 33-year-old has never missed a game since becoming captain of the Test side but will be replaced as skipper for the Sri Lanka series by Ollie Pope, the official vice captain.
Stokes had knee surgery last November and then ruled himself out of England’s T20 World Cup title defence earlier this year to focus on being fit to fulfil his role as an all-rounder in the Test side.
He took five wickets in the 3-0 series victory over the West Indies this summer and appeared to be back to full fitness.
It is another injury setback for England, with opener Zak Crawley already ruled out of the Sri Lanka series with a broken finger. Seamer Dillon Pennington, an unused member of the squad against the West Indies, is another to miss out having also suffered a hamstring injury while in action for Northern Superchargers.
Another vital Test player, Chris Woakes, has been made unavailable for the remainder of The Hundred season over similar injury concerns. Woakes had been due to play the final two group stage matches for Birmingham Phoenix in the competition.
Pope has been vocal about leading the team in a similar way to Stokes with a positive and aggressive mindset. He has only captained one first-class game before, for Surrey against Glamorgan in September 2021.
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