England allrounder Ben Stokes has raised hopes of a Ashes return after posting a video of him bowling during an indoor training session. Stokes isn’t part of the England Ashes squad announced earlier this month that will be in Australia for five Tests later this year.
The 30-year-old has been out of action since picking up a finger injury during IPL 2021 in April and later, took an indefinite break from cricket to focus on his mental health. In recent days, he has been sharing pictures and clips of him batting and bowling in the nets fueling speculations he’s ready for competitive return.
England are scheduled to leave for Australia in the first week of November for the Ashes beginning December 8.
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England performance director Mo Bobat termed Stokes’ recent social media activity as a ‘hugely positive’ sign even though they have maintained the cricketer won’t be pressured into making a return for the Ashes tour.
“As people are probably noticing more broadly, and we have noticed internally… to see his energy and excitement return, and him trusting his finger again - which is really important - is hugely positive," Bobat was quoted as saying in Daily Mail.
“Ultimately, given what he’s experienced and where he has been it is important that he and we move at the right pace for him. There is certainly no expectation or pressure from us. It’s a case of us supporting Ben physically and however else we need to support him, so that he can continue to progress at the rate he would like to and at which he feels comfortable," he added.
England pacer Mark Wood had earlier told The Guardian how they are not thinking about Stokes’ potential return to the national setup and that their onlyc concern is of their teammates’ mental well-being.
“Not once among any of the players has Stokesy been mentioned. The one thing at the forefront of everyone’s minds is they just want him to be all right. No one wants to even think past that. We just want him to be himself and feel right and happy and stuff like that. So not once has it crossed anyone’s mind about the Ashes," Wood was quoted as saying.
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