England unsure if Stokes will bowl on fifth day

According to assistant coach Marcus Trescothick, England will “wait and see” whether captain Ben Stokes is fit to bowl in their final Test match against India at Old Trafford.

At the end of day four, India led by 137 runs to reach 174-2 after taking five wickets in the first innings but did not bat.

Trescothick claimed that because Stokes was “a bit stiff and sore” on day three, which has been plagued by injury issues in recent years and was forced to retire hurt after batting with cramp on day three.

According to Trescothick, “We are still hopeful he will be better tomorrow, come back, be a little looser, and ready to go again,” the BBC Test Match Special said.

It is concerning that Trescothick doubted his ability to play a role on Sunday and that he did not bring himself into the attack when he scored 141 in the morning session, which was his first Test century in two years.

He frequently bent over while his hands were on his knees and felt a pain in his left hamstring at one point in the afternoon.

When Chris Woakes dismissed Sai Sudharsan and Yashasvi Jaiswal, his team appeared to be on the verge of victory, but Shubman Gill and opener KL Rahul, who had batting out the final 62.1 overs of the day, gave India hope of batting out the series’ final day for a draw, putting them one game away from the series’ end, put them 2-1 up at the Oval.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan remarked, “Ben Stokes chased one to deep extra cover, he held his hamstring, that was visible for everyone to see.”

“We’ll see,” the statement read. At times, Ben is a superhuman. He was probably anticipating today that neither he nor they would need him.

Stokes had surgery on his left hamstring in January after torn it last summer. He also underwent knee surgery in November 2023.

He only started bowling again in the late May of that year’s Test against Zimbabwe.

Stokes hasn’t lost a single seamer for England this summer. His 16 wickets in a series are the most of either side.

Despite Trescothick saying he may have to manage his bowling workload after the second hamstring injury in December, Trescothick claims that the 129 overs he has bowled represents his biggest workload in a single series. The fifth Test will take place next week with only three days off.

Trescothick argued that Stokes will need to be protected as England’s management searches for a way to win the Ashes in Australia later in the year.

You must supervise everyone, with him no exception because of his impact as team captain. You want him to play as many games as possible.

It will benefit, of course, if we can find a way to limit his overs. The better for the team the more games he’ll put together as captain and leader.