Weighed risk and reward, risk was too high: Stokes on missing Oval Test

News18

30-07-2025

London, Jul 30 (PTI) Ben Stokes did not care about his injury-ravaged body while bowling those difference making overs for England over the course of the first four Tests but he says the risk is far too high to go out one last time in the series for the team he leads from the front.
Stokes, the leading wicket-taker of the series with 17 scalps, will be a mere spectator at The Oval, robbing the series finale of his charismatic on-field presence.
No Jofra Archer, and possibly no Jasprit Bumrah in the opposition, also takes sheen off what has been a riveting series.
After all, all those long spells Stokes bowled at Lord's and Manchester had an adverse impact on his right shoulder, leading to a muscle tear. The fighter that he is, Stokes was bullish about his participation at The Oval but the scans revealed he could not go any further even if he wanted to.
Stokes will call the shots from the dressing room but England will not have his invaluable service with both bat and ball.
'It's one of those weighing up the risk-reward, and the risk was way too high for damaging this any further than it currently is. I didn't want to… and I wouldn't expect to put any one of my players at risk with an injury like this.
'I'll start rehabbing and focus on what we've got coming up. Very disappointed but almost needed a bit more time than I normally would give to these kind of things to make a decision," said Stokes who expects to be fully fit in six to seven weeks ahead of the Ashes Down Under.
Stokes was visibly disappointed at the missing out on the final Test of the series that he has given his all for but his sense of humour remained intact.
'It's a decent tear of one of the muscles I can't pronounce, because I don't know how to say it (smiles). We took as long as we could to take the decision. There was a bit of emotion going into this kind of stuff when you find out what you done.
'I came down here this morning to give myself every chance of seeing if I could just play as a batter. Bowling was ruled out as soon as the scans came in. You need that time chatting with the medical team, Baz, and then almost just 20 minutes to myself out there, just to really be clear around the decision that we made." Asked if he could have managed his workload differently, Stokes replied in the negative.
'No, not at all. When I'm out on the field I play to win and give everything I possibly can. If I feel there's a moment in a game where I need to put everything, I'll do that because it's how much this team means to me, playing for England means to me, winning means to me." 'There's absolutely nothing I could have done before. Being a professional, sportsman injuries are part of this game and I can't do anything about that," said Stokes who remains confident that his team can do the job without him.
Four pacers for seamer friendly conditions ========================== Expecting seamer friendly conditions, England have named four pacers in the playing eleven with Jacob Bethell and Joe Root being the part time spin options.
'We had to think about me not being able to (bowl), if I was to play it would be as a batter. Here generally it's your seamers who take the wickets, being a forced change, having Beth come in at 6 we still felt we wanted the four seamers," said Stokes.
'We felt that here gives you the best chance of winning. The way it's played here through the year in the championship as well, it's looked very similar to this and played like that.
'This one looks a lot more live grass on the wicket than the others. I wouldn't be surprised this week if there's a bit more assistance there for the seamers." No regrets: Stokes on Manchester draw ======================== Stokes stood by his much talked about call to end the game in Manchester with 15 overs left on day five. India refused his proposal with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar nearing deserving hundreds.
'No regrets but I think it's one of those when you've not been there in the field for 250 overs, you do have a bit more of an understanding towards both sides. The two lads Jadeja and Washington played incredibly well up until that point, so you understand as to why they wanted to stay put there and get their hundreds." 'But, again, as I said at the end of the game, I'm not going to bowl any of my bowlers in a situation where we can't win and expose any of those guys to injury. We're over it. I think India are over that whole thing.
'Let's just try our best not to focus too much on a 20-min period of cricket when it's been such a good series so far." Captaincy load in five Test series ==================== A five match series going down to the wire like the one against India takes a massive toll as leader of the team, said Stokes.
'Big. Big toll. Physically it's very tough, especially out in the field. It is tiring. But the mental side of it as well is just as tiring. This series has gone to the last session every time, don't know if that's ever happened before. It's been a tough, gruelling series but class to play in.
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'It's a real test of character, of physicality. The way both teams have fronted up every single day and session, given everything for their country is testament to how much this format means to England and India.
'The easy option would be to not turn up, give up. But both teams have turned up every single day and given absolutely everything and left everything out on the field, I don't see it being any different this week," Stokes added. PTI BS APA APA
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments
First Published:
July 30, 2025, 18:45 IST
News agency-feeds Weighed risk and reward, risk was too high: Stokes on missing Oval Test
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