Sport

Ben Stokes a fitness doubt for England’s first Test of summer against Ireland

Stokes has only played the first two of Chennai Super Kings’ 13 games in this year’s IPL

England captain Ben Stokes could miss the Test match against Ireland at Lord's as he struggles for full fitness. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP via Getty Images
England captain Ben Stokes could miss the Test match against Ireland at Lord's as he struggles for full fitness. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP via Getty Images
Simon Burnton
Mon May 15 2023 - 18:41

Ben Stokes is the latest player whose fitness for England’s opening Test of the summer against Ireland at Lord’s has been thrown into doubt, with the coach of his Indian Premier League team admitting that the Test captain is unable to bowl and is being seen simply as “batting cover”, six weeks after his last appearance in the competition.

Despite being signed for around €1.8 million in December’s player auction Stokes has so far played only the first two of Chennai Super Kings’ 13 games, scoring seven and eight and conceding 18 runs in his solitary over.

Stephen Fleming has said Stokes is unlikely to appear in their last two matches as the team seeks to seal a place in the playoffs. “Ben’s ability to bowl overs at the moment is still a bit of a challenge but he’s there as batting cover,” the New Zealander said, adding of his potential selection in the remainder of the season that “it’s not our style to chop and change”.

That has also been England’s hallmark in their first year under the stewardship of Stokes and Fleming’s compatriot Brendon McCullum. But for all their consistency of selection there is a lot of uncertainty about the make-up of the side that will play Ireland at Lord’s in a fortnight, and of the squad for that game which will be announced on Tuesday.

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Jimmy Anderson’s groin injury, confirmed late on Sunday night after a scan on Saturday, has turned another certain starter into a mere possible – and with the Ashes in mind no risks are likely to be taken against Ireland.

Meanwhile, the three bowlers of express pace that England had planned to rotate through the summer might all start it on the sidelines, with Jofra Archer still discomfited by an elbow injury, Olly Stone already out with a hamstring strain and Mark Wood at home awaiting the birth of his first child.

This could lead to the return of Chris Woakes, who has not played a Test since last March, the dying days of Joe Root’s captaincy, having been ruled out of the entire 2022 summer with a persistent knee injury. Saqib Mahmood and Matthew Fisher, two other players with Test experience, will also be considered by a committee that for the first time includes Luke Wright after his appointment as selector last November.

Woakes’s appeal is boosted by a remarkable record at Lord’s, where in five matches he has taken 27 wickets at an average of 11.33 (of those who have played there at least four times the only other Englishman whose bowling average is below 14.5 is WG Grace, with 13.0).

England selectors will also remember that when Ireland played a Test there in 2019 Woakes took six second-innings wickets for 17 runs in 7.4 overs to propel England to victory. If selected he would join Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and Matt Potts as seam options, alongside the spinner Jack Leach.

One name whose presence in the squad is guaranteed is Jonny Bairstow, who has returned to full fitness following a freak golf injury last September. In the two games he has played this month for Yorkshire his scores have been somewhat underwhelming but as McCullum put it in November, “as soon as he’s fit he’s back in the side, no doubt”.

McCullum has also given a hint about Bairstow’s likely place in the line-up, saying this year that “what we can’t do is try and crowbar people in”. That would preclude various novel potential solutions around the need to also include Harry Brook, such as asking either Stokes, Brook or Bairstow himself to open, and puts Ben Foakes’s position as wicketkeeper in the greatest jeopardy. One benefit of concluding that Stokes should spend the Ireland Test on the sidelines would be to postpone that decision.

The four-day Test match gets under way on Thursday, June 1st, with Ireland taking on Essex in a three-day game at Chelmsford in preparation, starting on Sunday, May 28th.

Meanwhile, the ICC’s cricket committee has bowed to pressure – including from Stokes and Broad, as well as the India captain, Virat Kohli – to stop requiring on-field officials to give a soft signal when they refer decisions, such as low catches, to the TV umpire. “Soft signals have been discussed at previous cricket committee meetings over the last couple of years,” said the chair, Sourav Ganguly. “The committee deliberated this at length and concluded that soft signals were unnecessary and at times confusing.”

– Guardian