England is monitoring the fitness of Ben Stokes ahead of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide, with the star all-rounder hampered by a knee injury.
Key points:
- Stokes jarred his knee during the first Test in Brisbane
- He says he has been troubled by a knee injury for some time
- England captain Joe Root says Stokes will be given time to prove his fitness
Stokes jarred his knee during last week’s opening Test at the Gabba, which Australia won by nine wickets.
He was restricted to just 12 overs with the ball during Australia’s first innings.
Stokes was able to take part in a net session in Adelaide on Tuesday, bowling without any obvious discomfort.
England captain Joe Root said he was hopeful his teammate would be passed fit for the second Test beginning on Thursday.
“We’ll find out in the next couple of days,” he said.
“Obviously [he] had a bit of jarring in his knee in the last game, so hopefully it’s just something that he’s shaken off now and we can see him back at full intensity and it gives us all options on the table.
Writing in his column in English newspaper The Mirror, Stokes said the injury was an ongoing problem.
“It is an old injury that flares up every now and again, but I know how to manage it,” Stokes wrote.
“It just gets a little bit uncomfortable every now and again in and around my cartilage.
“But it just looks worse than it is by the way I try and get off it as soon as I can.”
The Gabba Test was Stokes’s first competitive cricket match since July.
He was returning from a mental health break that followed an injury-interrupted season.
Australia has had its own injury concerns during the build-up to the day-night Test in Adelaide, with fast bowler Josh Hazlewood ruled out because of a side strain.
Hazlewood is expected to be replaced by Jhye Richardson in the Australian XI.
Australian opener David Warner (ribs) is also under an injury cloud.
