LONDON: England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn hamstring and will miss the Test series against Sri Lanka, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced Tuesday.
“England Men’s Test Captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out for the rest of the summer after tearing his left hamstring while playing for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred on Sunday,” said an ECB statement.
The 33-year-old all-rounder will be replaced as Test skipper by vice-captain Ollie Pope, the ECB added.
The first Test against Sri Lanka begins on August 21 at Old Trafford.
“As a result of the scans conducted in Leeds on Tuesday, Stokes will miss England’s three-match Test series against Sri Lanka,” aid the ECB.
“The all-rounder is aiming to return for England’s winter Test tour of Pakistan, scheduled to start in early October.”
No replacement player has been added to the England squad for the Sri Lanka series announced on August 4.
Stokes had knee surgery in November and then ruled himself out of England’s T20 World Cup title defense in the Caribbean and the United States earlier this year to ensure he could be fit to play a role as a fully-fledged all-rounder in the Test side.
He scored 192 runs at an average of 48 and took five wickets with his lively medium-pace bowling during a 3-0 series whitewash of the West Indies — the first half of England’s home Test program this season.
Stokes looked well on his way to full fitness before suffering the injury against Manchester Originals at Old Trafford, where he was later seen on crutches.
Stokes’ injury provoked a fresh round of social media criticism of the Hundred, the ECB’s controversial 100-balls-per-side tournament, that features eight specially created teams rather than the traditional 18 first-class counties.
England players are routinely withdrawn by the ECB from the first-class County Championship or domestic limited-overs tournaments such as the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup to protect their fitness for international duty.
Stokes, however, was cleared to play in the Hundred, despite pulling out of the T20 World Cup.
His absence is a fresh injury blow for England, with opening batsman Zak Crawley already ruled out of the Sri Lanka series because of a broken finger sustained while fielding against the West Indies.
Uncapped paceman Dillon Pennington has been sidelined after also suffering a hamstring injury while in action for Northern Superchargers.
Sri Lanka will have one warm-up match, a four-day fixture against the second-string England Lions in Worcester starting Wednesday, before the first Test.
England captain Stokes out of Sri Lanka series with torn hamstring
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England captain Stokes out of Sri Lanka series with torn hamstring
- The all-rounder aims to return for England’s winter Test tour of Pakistan, scheduled to start in early October
- No replacement player has been added to the England squad for the Sri Lanka series announced on August 4
Morocco part company with coach Regragui as World Cup looms
RABAT: Morocco parted company with coach Walid Regragui on Thursday, three months before the World Cup, with the country’s football federation naming Mohamed Ouahbi as his replacement.
Regragui leaves despite having led the Atlas Lions to the World Cup semifinals in 2022 and to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations at the beginning of this year.
“I leave my post with loyalty, gratitude, and the certainty that I have served my country,” he declared during a ceremony broadcast live on television, confirming weeks of persistent rumors that he was on his way out.
Ouahbi, 49, is promoted to the role having overseen Morocco’s triumph at the Under-20 World Cup in October, with the federation describing the move as “a strategic transition” in the run-up to the World Cup in North America in June and July.
“It’s a desire not to waste time and to take a different direction,” a source close to the Moroccan Federation told AFP.
“By appointing Mohamed Ouahbi and welcoming top-tier reinforcements, we are raising our standards and our demands,” the source said.
Morocco will be in Group C at the World Cup along with five-time winners Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.
They begin their campaign against Brazil at the MetLife Stadium just outside New York City on June 13 and will be hoping to make a big impression at the tournament before co-hosting the 2030 edition with Spain and Portugal.
“Our ambition is to consolidate our place among the best nations in a sustainable way and to perform well from this summer, as well as in 2030,” the leader of the Moroccan federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, said recently.
Regragui was hailed in 2022 after Morocco became the first African nation in World Cup history to reach the semifinals, beating Spain and Portugal along the way.
However, Regragui likely paid the ultimate price for the manner in which Morocco lost the recent AFCON final to Senegal.
His team were beaten 1-0 after extra-time at the end of a match marred by the Senegal team’s decision to walk off the pitch in protest at the award of a controversial late penalty to the hosts.
The penalty award with the game goalless sparked trouble in the crowd involving Senegal fans, 18 of whom were jailed following the disruption.
Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz eventually took the penalty after a long delay but his kick was saved and Senegal went on to win the game.
