Posted by “I’m ready for Australia”, quotes Ben Stokes to announce his return to cricket after a three month break. Ashes 2021-22 will commence on 8th of December, England on 10th of October had announced their squad that didn’t feature Ben Stokes as he was yet to decide on his availability.
Ben Stokes had injured his index finger earlier this year during the 1st leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that was played in India. Covid outbreak in the English white-ball camp during the home Sri Lanka series forced England to announce a fresh squad for Pakistan series that saw Ben Stokes return to action, he was on medication but had returned to international duties with England in desperate need for a skipper to lead the side. He then featured in The Hundred for a couple of games and just before the start of Test series against India he announced his unavailability to prioritise his mental well-being and to rest his index finger. Stokes underwent a second surgery to his injured index finger. Last week, Ben Stokes started training at an indoor facility in Durham that sparked talks of his return.
Ben Stokes had uploaded pictures and clips of him training on social media that indicated his plans to return to competitive cricket. The training visuals made Stokes return very certain. Ben Stokes will be travelling with the test contingent and the Lions squad on the 4th of November. Ben Stokes return will see England have their missing ingredient, the middle order collapses will now see a strong pillar in Ben Stokes that’ll comfort the side.
On 4th of November, the England test squad and the lions squad will board their flight to Australia. The Lions squad, is a 14 man squad that’ll help England prepare well leading into the opening test match at the Gabba.
ENGLAND LIONS SQUAD FOR AUSTRALIA :
Tom Abell, Josh Bohannon, James Bracey,
Brydon Carse, Mason Crane, Matthew Fisher, Ben Foakes, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Liam Norwell, Matt Parkinson, Dom Sibley, Jamie Smith, Rob Yates.
There’s no hiding the fact that England collectively have had a bad run with the bat and were never close to their best with the balance of the side missing, and now with Ben Stokes availability there’s new life put in the English camp that’ll see a much competitive and an exciting Ashes summer.
Bureau of sports 