Ben Stokes has had knee problems for the past three years. Credit: PA Wire/John Walton
Ben Stokes is poised to undergo surgery for a 'frustrating' chronic knee injury after his fifth test in hopes of extending his career so he can lead England on the Ashes Down Under Tour in 2025.Stokes has been plagued by chronic tendinitis in his knee in recent years, to the point where he has not played in three of England's five Tests this summer and looks unlikely to do so in Ashes at the Oval's last match this week.< /p>
When the series concludes, Stokes has no firm cricket commitment until January, when England tours India with five Tests. He confirmed that he remains out of the One-Day International and will not reverse this decision regarding England's World Cup defense this year, despite being left with the choice by manager Matthew Mott and captain Jos Buttler.< /p>
While it is possible that Stokes will play in the second part of the 100 after next week's weekend and for the English T20 team in September and December, it is more likely that he will widen the gap in his schedule to five full months to “train in earnest”. conversations with doctors. Surgery will clearly be the last resort due to the risk involved,
“Yeah, that’s something I obviously want to sort out,” Stokes said when asked if he would consider going under the knife. “At the time when I saw specialists and the like, there was cricket around. Since it was manageable, we just broke down. But I think it's a good time to have a serious talk with the medics about what I can potentially do to get a role where I can bowl without worrying about my knee. These are conversations we can have in our free time.”
Stokes has confirmed he hopes to captain England in Australia in 2025/26, by which time he will be 34 years old and England will be a decade old without winning Ashes.
Ben Stokes had to re-bandage his knee on the field during the fourth test match. Photo: Getty Images/Ryan Pierse
I mean, obviously how this series went and how close we were, makes you wonder as we go. we have a better chance of going to Australia than the last few times we've been there,” he said. “Hopefully it would be nice to go to Australia in 2025 and have a good chance of winning.
“I think the way Australians and English players talk about Ashes obviously matters a lot. Don't get me wrong, Ashes is a very important series for English and Australian cricket and it would be nice to say that I have won it twice. Apparently there is a lot of cricket around Ashes too, but we'll see when 2025 comes around.”
Stokes is disappointed that his knee “failed” in this series after staying in India despite not being able to play in the IPL to rehabilitate the injury. He remains determined to continue playing as an all-rounder until the fall of his career, but scoffed at the idea that he could go from seniority to free spins by practicing on the nets.
“ The time I spent in India, all the effort i put in to get to where i was before the series has become yet another frustrating thing again when all the work you do, your body can let you down when you don't want to. k,” he said. “I'd better think about what I want to do in terms of the role that everyone is used to seeing in me in the future.
“[It's important to play like an all-rounder] . This is what I have been doing since childhood. The desire to be involved in the game is what I do best. And I said in Wellington after that game [in February] that the last couple of years I've been frustrated with not being able to make the same impact and play the same role that I've played for the last 10 years. So this is obviously what I want to be able to do and hopefully I can figure out. I keep forgetting that I am getting older every day.”
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