“Nice format to return again into bowling once more is not it, T20?” Stokes joked in a Sky Sports activities interview. “I mentioned on the finish of [the] Wellington [Test], it has been a really irritating 12 months – that is how lengthy it has been, bowling with this knee downside. Not with the ability to fulfil my function correctly as fourth seamer has been irritating.”
Stokes has bowled 174.3 overs in his 12 Exams since his appointment as England’s everlasting captain, however managed solely 9 throughout their current two-match collection in New Zealand. Forward of the Ashes, which begins on June 16 at Edgbaston, he hopes to make sure he’ll have the ability to contribute absolutely with the ball.
“I’ve labored so laborious during the last month, 5 weeks, to get to the place I’m now,” Stokes mentioned. “Having the ability to bowl pain-free, contact wooden, has been good. Even [on Monday] evening, I went for 18 runs however I used to be like, ‘I managed to bowl an over with none ache in my knee.’
“That is all the way down to loads of laborious work that I’ve carried out away from [the game] medically, within the fitness center, and clearly I’ve had a little bit of assist with some cortisone injections, however every thing goes properly. I am going to simply take it step-by-step and never look to hurry myself in an excessive amount of, as a result of clearly the primary precedence for me is ensuring that I can fulfil my function as fourth seamer within the Ashes.”
