Stokes hopes to be dominant all-round force again after return from surgery
Ben Stokes the England captain
Photo:
PHOTOSPORT
England test captain Ben Stokes hopes he can become a dominant force with both bat and ball again when the all-rounder returns from hamstring surgery, with a busy summer ahead that includes high-profile series against India and Australia.
The 33-year-old has been out of action since tearing his left hamstring in December and underwent surgery in January to get rid of an issue that has plagued him in recent years.
The talismanic, New Zealand-born all-rounder, who has occasionally been forced to play as a specialist batter because of the injury, said he had gone through one of the longest rehab periods of his career.
"I've worked incredibly hard on all aspects of everything, from my cricket to fitness, and know I'm going to be in a position when I am back on the field to potentially be in physically the best possible shape I have been in," he told Sky Sports.
Stokes will return to the England side for a one-off test against Zimbabwe from May 22 at Trent Bridge before they host India for five tests followed by the Ashes series in Australia.
The Durham player was pleased with how his training had gone but was aware that playing a real match will be more demanding.
"As excited as I am to get back on the field I do know it's going to be different to my training," he said.
"But in terms of my role as a player, that full seamer, batting at six, trying to dominate every situation I find myself whether I've got a bat or ball in my hand is what I want to get back doing out on the field, on the biggest stage.
"I know I've done it before, it's something I've very confident in myself I can do."
- Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
44 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Players undergoing fertility procedures to get protected ranking, says WTA
Angelique Kerber and Ash Barty hug, Wimbledon 2021. Photo: Paul Zimmer / PHOTOSPORT Female players who choose to undergo a fertility protection procedure will be allowed to take time away from the sport and return to competitive action with a protected ranking, the governing body of women's tennis has said. The new rule aims to support women athletes to balance their family goals and career ambitions and comes three months after the WTA offered players up to 12 months of paid maternity leave for the first time. "The new rule means that players can now take time away from professional tennis for a fertility protection procedure such as egg or embryo freezing and safely return to competition with a protected ranking," the WTA said in a statement. "Eligible players will receive a Special Entry Ranking (SER), which can be used to enter up to three tournaments, based on the 12-week average of their WTA Ranking from eight weeks prior to the start of their out-of-competition period." Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, has previously called for egg freezing to be recognised as a protected ranking activity and called Wednesday's announcement a "ground-breaking" move. "I'm incredibly proud of our sport in recognising the importance of fertility treatments for female athletes. For any woman, the conversation of family life versus a career is nuanced and complex," the former world No.3 said. "The WTA has now created a safe space for players to explore options and to make the best decisions for themselves." The WTA also said players will benefit from paid maternity leave and grants for fertility protection through the WTA Maternity Fund sponsored by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. -Reuters
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Australia topple South Africa's top order in WTC final fight back
Australia's Josh Hazlewood celebrates taking the wicket of South Africa's Tristan Stubbs. ICC World Test Championship cricket final, Lord's, 2025. Photo: GLYN KIRK / AFP South Africa were reeling on 43-4 at stumps on the first day of the World Test Championship final at Lord's on Wednesday (UK time) after earlier dismissing defending champions Australia for 212. Seamer Kagiso Rabada took 5-51 as South Africa's bowling unit made a strong start to the contest but their inexperienced batting line-up came under fire immediately when they began their reply. Australia's fast bowling attack proved as fearsome as anything South Africa had to offer and by the end of play they were firmly in command. South Africa trail Australia by 169 runs after a day on which 14 wickets fell and captain Temba Bavuma (3) and David Bedingham (8) will resume on Thursday with a daunting task ahead. A see-saw contest started with South Africa's decision to put Australia in to bat in a calculated gamble on a good pitch but with cloudy conditions that Bavuma sought to capitalise on. It was vindicated as Rabada and Marco Jansen took two wickets each to leave the defending WTC champions struggling at 67-4 at lunch, with Marnus Labuschagne's first innings as an opener ending after 17 runs and the returning Cameron Green lasting only three balls. But when the sun came out at the start of the second session, Steve Smith and Beau Webster put together 79 runs for the fifth wicket before Smith was dismissed by part-time spinner Aiden Markram for 66. It was the sole wicket to fall in the middle session as Australia advanced to 190-5 at tea, only for fortunes to swing back South Africa's way at the start of the evening session. They took Australia's last five wickets for 22 runs in 6.4 overs. Keshav Maharaj bowled Alex Carey (23) attempting an injudicious switch, followed by a pair of wickets for Rabada who removed Pat Cummins for a single run and induced Webster into a thick edge with some extra bounce. Webster top scored with a test best of 72 in only his fourth appearance for Australia. Jansen bowled Nathan Lyon to end with figures of 3-49 and then Rabada completed his five-wicket haul by castling Mitchell Starc. South Africa came in to bat with 90 minutes left in the day's play and lost Markram in their first over as he chopped the ball onto his boot and then onto the stumps to give Starc a first wicket. He then snagged Ryan Rickelton (16), encouraged into a drive and well caught by Usman Khawaja at first slip, as South Africa fell to 19-2. Wiaan Mulder, who was dropped on one, lasted 44 balls but made only six runs as he looked thoroughly uncomfortable after being promoted up to number three in the South African order and Tristan Stubbs was clean bowled by Josh Hazlewood for two near the end of the day's play. -Reuters
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
India Rugby backs sevens franchise for 10 years
Rugby India President Rahul Bose. Photo: AFP India Rugby and its partners have committed to backing the Rugby Premier League (RPL), the world's first franchise-based sevens league, for the next 10 years. President and Bollywood actor Rahul Bose told RNZ Pacific from Mumbai that all the six franchise teams plus their funders have signed on for the first event, which will kick off on 15 June, and the next nine events down the line. The tournament will take place in Mumbai at the Mumbai Football Arena and will feature 30 international players playing alongside local players. Six teams are representing the Indian cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bhubaneswar. The franchises are Bengaluru Bravehearts, Chennai Bulls, Delhi Redz, Hyderabad Heroes, Kalinga Black Tigers, and the Mumbai Dreamers. The Mumbai Dreamers team. Photo: Mumbai Dreamers Thirty international players are now with the six teams, with five players per team from the field of 30 invited to play at the event. The list includes Fijians Jerry Tuwai, who will play for Mumbai Dreamers, along with Waisea Nacuqu, plus Australian pair Harry Hutchinson and James Turner. South African playmaker Rosco Speckman and his Australian counterpart Maurice Longbottom, who have clashed over numerous times on the world sevens circuit, will team up for the Kalinga Black Tigers. New Zealand players Akuila Rokolisea, Scott Curry and Tone Ng Shiu team up with Spain's star Pol Pla and Fijian Ioane Teba for the Bengaluru Bravehearts. All six head coaches are well-known on the world sevens rugby circuit and these are Mike Friday (former USA sevens head coach), Ben Gollings (England sevens legend and former Fiji sevens head coach), DJ Forbes (New Zealand sevens icon), Tomasi Cama (New Zealand sevens coach), Paco Hernandez (Spain sevens coach) and Tim Walsh (Australia women's sevens head coach). The league will also feature 30 Indian players. Bose said the event will be a big boost for rugby in India, and one that has been in the pipeline for some time. He said sevens is one of the most attractive television sports in modern history. "This is a league that's been six years in the making, but we wanted to do everything right," he said. "The first extraordinary development came thanks to World Rugby, who gave us a 15-day window in which no international rugby sevens would be played anywhere in the world." The league will be broadcast live on Star Sports and JioHotstar. Bose said the event will be a major boost for rugby in India. "It's going to transform and create pathways for many more people to enter the rugby ecosystem, and also players, who would normally never get a chance to upskill under the Indian national team environment, will now be picked up," Rahul said. He said viewer numbers could be anything between 10 and 50 million in the first year. "And whatever it is, it's been an impressive number, and sponsors who were earlier never attracted to rugby, because rugby was never seen on television, will now have commercial interest in the sport. "So between the regeneration and the rejuvenation and new talent, both on the field and off the field, happening internally, there will also be money happening externally, and when the two meet, that will result in a massive infusion of energy into the game in the country." Bose said having international players play alongside local players in the six franchise teams is going to be massive for the players and the development of the game, especially sevens, in India. He pointed to performance and culture as two key lessons for the local players. "One is the Indians, the best of India, to understand how much further they have to go to become world class players," Bose said of the flow-on effect he and Rugby India expect from the players' interactions. "So definitely, performance on the field, nutritional conditioning, rehab, habits on and off the field. I think that will be a huge learning experience for any of these boys. Psychological preparation, temperament, readying yourself during a match for the next challenge, readying yourself between matches for the next challenge. "And the second is culture. "What is the unspoken culture that is being cultivated amongst these players that makes them who they are? What are the kind of things they do when nobody's watching? What are the kinds of things they don't do when nobody's telling them not to do something? These are the things that build culture." All the players and the six coaches plus team officials recruited for the franchise events are being paid fees in accordance to World Rugby guidelines. Bose said this is something Rugby India had worked on with the franchise owners and funders, to ensure that finance is a non-issue. "The entire league is privately funded; World Rugby has nothing to do with it," he said. "We have six franchise owners, each of them pay a franchise fee, which goes into the central pool, and the central league engages sponsor that also goes to central pool. "The player's fee is separate. The coach's fee is separate. The transportation and living experience expenses of coaches and players is separate. We have been guided by World Rugby as to what to tell the team owners, what they can spend, what they should be offering the coaches and the players." On the tournament previews, Bose said it is exciting for India. He said the league offers the opportunity for players to play alongside each other rather than against each other, over a new format that focuses on giving players a lot of time to recuperate and recover, so they can be at their best. "And the players are very excited because they are going to be playing alongside players they've never played with, and they've always played against, whether it is an Irish player playing against a Fijian and now playing with a Fijian; whether it is a South African player, playing against an Argentinian player and now playing with the Argentinian player," Bose said. "And everybody's very excited that this new format, of just one game a day per team. "People should expect world-class rugby in a way that they haven't seen before." The event kicks off on 15 June with the Bengaluru Bravehearts taking on the Delhi Redz while the Chennai Bulls face the Mumbai Dreamers. The third game of the day will be between the Hyderabad Heroes and the Kaling Black Tigers.
