Ben Stokes illness: What happened to Ben Stokes? Will Stokes play England vs New Zealand Headingley Test?

Ben Stokes illness: The English captain has skipped a training session a couple of days before the third Test match of the summer.

The third Test match of the ongoing New Zealand’s tour of England will be played in Leeds from June 23. With England already winning the first two Test matches, they have gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

A rare eight-day break between two Test matches should witness two rejuvenated teams locking horns against each other from Thursday. New Zealand, who haven’t been able to restrict the hosts to chase down targets in both the matches, face COVID-19 challenge within their squad in addition to their players yet to perform according to their potential on this tour.

What a day….@TrentBridge thank you for doing what you did,thank you to everyone who turned out,you got us going…….. Test Cricket is MIIIIIIIIIIINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) June 14, 2022

Ben Stokes illness

England Test captain Ben Stokes was out of action as far as training at the Headingley was concerned today. Stokes, 31, opted to skip a training session due to an illness. Having said that, the exact nature and extent of the same remains unknown for now.

While Stokes has returned a negative COVID-19 test, there have been reports of ECB (England Cricket Board) and the team management confident about their skipper returning to training on the eve of the match tomorrow.

Having just ushered in a new era under Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, England wouldn’t want their captain to sit out in only the third match. Readers must note that Stokes possesses of an incredible record in Leeds Tests scoring 348 runs at an average of 58 including two centuries and a half-century.

In four innings this series, Stokes has scored 176 runs at an average of 58.66 including a couple of half-centuries. Other than his leadership and batting, Stokes has also picked three wickets in the series.

Assuming that Stokes has to sit out in this match, England will have to find a new captain for they haven’t named an official vice-captain in this squad. In such a situation, uncapped Yorkshire batter Harry Brook will take Stokes’ place in the middle-order.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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