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England captain Ben Stokes will miss the rest of the season and the Test series against Sri Lanka due to a torn hamstring, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Tuesday.
“England men’s Test cricket captain Ben Stokes will miss the remainder of the summer after tearing his left hamstring while playing for the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred League on Sunday,” the England Cricket Board said in a statement.
The English Cricket Board added that vice-captain Ollie Pope will replace the 33-year-old all-rounder as Test captain.
The first Test match against Sri Lanka will be played on August 21 at Old Trafford.
“Stokes will miss England’s three-match series against Sri Lanka due to the results of tests carried out in Leeds on Tuesday,” the English Cricket Board said.
“The all-rounder is targeting participation in England’s winter Test tour against Pakistan, which is scheduled to begin in early October.”
No replacement players were added to the England squad for the Sri Lanka series announced on August 4.
Stokes underwent knee surgery in November and pulled out of England’s T20 World Cup defence in the Caribbean and the United States earlier this year to ensure he was fit enough to play the role of a full-fledged all-rounder in the Test team.
In the first half of England’s 3-0 sweep of the West Indies in home Tests this season, he averaged 48 and took five wickets for 192 runs with his lively medium-pace delivery.
Stokes looked to be fully fit before he was injured against Manchester United at Old Trafford, after which he was on crutches.
Stokes’ injury has sparked a new wave of criticism on social media about the Hundred, a controversial competition created by the England Cricket Association that uses 100 balls per team and features eight specially formed teams rather than the traditional 18 first-class counties.
The England Cricket Board usually asks England players to withdraw from first-class county championships or domestic limited-overs tournaments such as the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup to ensure they are physically fit for international duty.
Although Stokes withdrew from the T20 World Cup, he was allowed to play in the hundred.
His absence is a fresh injury blow for England, with opening batsman Zach Crawley already ruled out for the Sri Lanka series due to a broken finger sustained against the West Indies.
Fast bowler Dillon Pennington, who did not play, also suffered a hamstring injury while playing for the Northern Superchargers and had to sit out.
Sri Lanka will play a warm-up match before the first Test, a four-day match against second-tier side England Lions in Worcester starting on Wednesday.
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