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England skipper Ben Stokes suffered a knee injury while his side took down Ireland by 10 wickets on Sunday. The England all-rounder who has been battling a long-standing knee injury hobbled while taking a catch to dismiss Curtis Campher, but didn’t leave the field. Stokes has shared an update about his injury and cleared all the concerns about the long-term effects of the injury ahead of the upcoming Ashes series, which is set to commence on June 16.
The 32-year-old cricketer was seen dealing with knee issues during the recently concluded Indian Premier League. Owing to the knee injury he picked up in New Zealand, Stokes featured in only two IPL 2023 games and bowled only in one game. Updating fans about his knee injury from the game against Ireland, he said that there is nothing that fans should be worrying about.
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Speaking in the post-match presentation, he said, "I actually didn't pick it [the ball] up, and I actually landed quite awkwardly on it (my knee). My weight went on the inside of my knee, like I hyper-extended. I bowled this morning - the first time I'd bowled since being back from India, so it would have been about four weeks actually." Stokes further said, “I got through that and was really happy with where I was. So no, nothing [for England fans] to worry about."
Speaking about the particular catch that might have caused him the injury, he said, "I didn't quite see it so had to adjust myself and landed on my left leg and it twisted in a really strange way. It was fine, I just don't know what really happened. It was one of those things - but I am 32 tomorrow so that probably explains it."
As England won their game against Ireland, Stokes became the only captain in Test history to have won a game without batting, bowling, or even wicketkeeping. When he was asked whether he would play in the upcoming Ashes tournament, he asserted that he would be fit to bowl by then and said, "No, of course not. That's not even something we've even spoken about because I'm fully prepared to be bowling at Edgbaston."