Ben Stokes, the captain of England, anticipates playing a full part with both the ball and the bat when his team begins its Ashes preparations in earnest on Thursday with a test match against Ireland that will last for four days.
The condition of Stokes’ knee has prompted concerns over his ability to play the all-rounder role, and these concerns were brought to the forefront during the drawn test series that took place in New Zealand in February.
Stokes was only able to bowl a total of nine overs throughout the two tests played against New Zealand, but he has every intention of being a part of England’s assault when they play at home against Australia.
Therefore, the 31-year-old will be the center of attention for the match versus Ireland that will take place at Lord’s over the next four days.
Stokes informed reporters at his pre-match news conference on Wednesday that his knee is in a lot better place than it was in Wellington. “My knee is in a much better place than it was in Wellington,” Stokes said.
“I have gotten myself into a position where I am not able to look back and regret or say that I have not given myself the best opportunity to play a full role with the ball this summer.”
Stokes was unable to bowl more than one over for the Chennai Super Kings this year despite making two appearances for the team in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In all, Stokes was only able to throw one over for the team.
“I have gotten myself into a situation where I feel like I am back in 2019 or 2020 with my body,” I said. He expressed his hope that he would soon be able to “turn up every day and bowl like I was able to do before this little niggle.” We are aware of the nature of the issue, and at this point, the focus is on finding a solution that takes into account the demands placed on the medical staff.
Josh Tongue, a seamer from Worcestershire, will make his international debut for England. This is due to the fact that James Anderson and Ollie Robinson are both recovering from minor injuries and need to take some time off before the Ashes.
“Having someone who is able to bowl at that extra pace and can come on and change where the game is going, have that X-factor, is great to have in your side,” Stokes said. “Having someone who is able to come on and change where the game is going, have that X-factor.”
“I am looking forward to having him participate in the process.”
Ireland had not been victorious in any of their previous six test matches since they were granted test status in 2017. However, they did give England a massive fright at Lord’s four years ago when they bowled the hosts out for 85 before lunch on the opening day of the contest.
In spite of this, they were only able to score 38 runs in their second innings while pursuing 182 runs for a victory.
Paceman Josh Little will not be playing for Ireland since he has been rested in preparation for the World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe which will take place the following month. This decision has caused some questions to be raised, particularly as Ireland’s high performance director Richard Holdsworth termed the Lord’s clash as “not a pinnacle event.”
Despite this, Ireland will go into the match with the intention of adding to their victories against England in the 50-over and Twenty20 formats.
“This is a really important week for both our team and our organization as a whole. “You don’t get too many chances to play test matches at Lord’s,” Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie remarked this week. “You’ve got to take advantage of them when you can.”
“I was fortunate enough to be here for the last one, and obviously we will take it in and soak it up; however, at the same time, we’re here to do a job and compete with one of the best test sides in the world.” We don’t want to lose sight of the task at hand.