England all-rounder Stokes facing uncertain summer after knee operation
England all-rounder Ben Stokes has revealed his anguish at facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on a cartilage tear to his left knee.
Stokes is certain to miss the remaining two instalments of the current three-Test series against Sri Lanka after aggravating his knee as England emphatically won last week’s first match at Headingley.
The 24-year-old is also set to be sidelined for the limited-overs contests against Sri Lanka that follow next month, placing his participation against Pakistan later this summer into doubt.
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“Devastated to be missing the rest of the series,” he wrote on Twitter. “This has been an ongoing issue for 2/3 years which I’ve managed to play through until now. All the best to the lads in the rest of the series, see you down at Durham in the crowd.”
England chiefs, who are already without a raft of injured bowlers across all formats, are yet to reveal how long Stokes is expected to be out for.
Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes, who took career-best figures of 9-36 on Monday, and Nottinghamshire’s Jake Ball are vying to replace Stokes in the second Test, which begins on Friday at Chester-le-Street.
Durham paceman Mark Wood is set to step up his comeback plans this week after ankle surgery, while Yorkshire all-rounder David Willey is due to return from an abdominal muscle tear early next month.
Hampshire limited-overs specialist Reece Topley is out for three months with a stress fracture to his back.