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England Test captain Ben Stokes will use a potential six-month break from cricket to have “serious conversations” about his long-term left-knee problem.
A quirk of the schedule means Stokes may not play any cricket between this week’s final Ashes Test and England’s first Test in India in January.
The knee issue has restricted Stokes to bowling only 38 overs in Test cricket this year.
“It’s something I obviously want to get sorted,” said the 32-year-old.
Stokes also confirmed he would not reverse his decision to retire from one-day internationals in order to be part of England’s World Cup defence in October and November.
On his upcoming break, Stokes said: “That is a good time to have some serious conversations with medics around what is potentially something I could do to get a role in which I can bowl without having to worry about my knee.
“Those are conversations we will be able to have in that time off.”
After struggling with the knee problem on England’s tour of New Zealand in February, Stokes had a cortisone injection in March and spent most of April and May with Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
Though he played only two games in the IPL, bowling just one over, the all-rounder said before the start of England’s Test summer he felt his knee was in a “much better place”.
But he has since bowled only 29 overs in the Ashes, and none in either of the third or fourth Tests, with England rejigging their team in order to include five bowlers as well as the skipper.
“The time I spent in India, all the effort that I put in to get to where I was before the series and it was again another frustrating thing when all the work you do, your body can let you down at times when you don’t want it to,” said Stokes.
“I’ll have a better think around what I want to do in terms of the role that everyone is used to see me playing going forward.”
England’s schedule after the Ashes is entirely focussed on white-ball cricket for the rest of the year.
There are limited-overs matches against New Zealand and Ireland at the end of the home summer that serve as preparation for the World Cup. After that tournament, there is a white-ball tour of the Caribbean in December.
Stokes, who is due to go on holiday after the final Ashes Test at The Oval, is likely to sit out The Hundred and all of England’s white-ball matches before returning to prepare for the five Tests in India in early 2024.
With 197 Test wickets, he is three away from joining one of Test cricket’s most exclusive clubs. Only Jacques Kallis and Garfield Sobers, genuine greats of the game, have done the double of 200 wickets and 6,000 runs – Stokes has 6,318 runs.
And Stokes, who bowled off-spin in the nets on Wednesday, says he wants to continue his career as an all-rounder, rather than being forced into a role as a specialist batter.
“It’s something I’ve done since I was a kid,” he said. “Wanting to be involved with the game is something that’s got the best out of myself.
“It has been frustrating in the last couple of years not being able to have the same impact and play the same role that I have done for the last 10 years.
“It’s obviously something I want to be able to do and hopefully can get sorted.”