Ben Stokes has pulled out of the opening skirmishes of The Hundred in order to rest and prepare for the Test series with South Africa.
Stokes will play in the ODI series against the Proteas that follows straight after the series decider with India on Sunday, but he is giving the shortest forms of the game a miss in order to manage his workload and fitness.
Stokes was meant to be appearing for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred, and a two-week window has been created for the start of tournament, but instead his focus is on ‘Bazball’ for now rather than 100-ball cricket.