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Louise Thomas
Editor
England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the first Test in Pakistan as he continues to recover from a torn hamstring.
Stokes sustained the injury in August while playing for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred and subsequently missed his side’s 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka.
He had been hoping to lead his country out in Multan on Monday but is not yet ready to take the field, meaning deputy Ollie Pope will take charge of his first overseas Test.
“I tried my hardest to get myself fit for this first game but I’ve taken the call to miss this one. I’ve not quite managed to get game ready,” he said.
“There is a lot that has to go into my rehab programme. We got to a certain point, but looking at the bigger picture of what we’ve got coming up and physically where I’m at, I’m not quite ready to play.
“It’s always frustrating to miss out. I’ve got some good things to focus on, so even though I’m not playing I’ve got a goal in mind. I’ve got a good 10 days to get myself ready for the second.”
Stokes was optimistic about his chances of featuring in that second Test, also in Multan, but was circumspect about his prospects of bowling.
“I’ve pushed myself incredibly hard and worked really hard with the medical team to get to where I’m at now. I think I’m further ahead today than we expected,” he said.
“It’s in my 10-day plan from now until that next one, eking bowling back into all my training and hopefully that goes well. But it’s too far away to say.”
With Stokes out, England have handed a debut to his Durham team-mate Brydon Carse. The 29-year-old seamer has had a rollercoaster time this year, serving a three-month ban for historic betting violations only to be fast-tracked straight back into the white-ball side for the recent series against Australia.
He turned in some striking performances during those games, hitting 90mph and producing some hostile spells.
Now he has the chance to make his mark in the Test arena, joining a five-man attack headed up by Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson and balanced by spinners Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach.
Carse has impressed his team-mates since returning to the fold and received the seal of approval from Joe Root.
He said: “I think he’s a natural wicket taker. You’ve seen it in white-ball cricket and you’ve seen it for Durham. He’s got those balls in him that come out of nowhere and make something happen.
“That’s really exciting, when you’ve got someone like that within your squad that can potentially turn the game on its head in a matter of moments.
“I think he offers a huge amount to the squad. He’s full of confidence coming off a decent series against Australia and it’s good to have him out here.”
