England Captain Ben Stokes major doubt for Sri Lanka Test series

• Suffers a hamstring injury playing in the Hundred

England Captain Ben Stokes looks set to miss England’s first Test against Sri Lanka later this month, and potentially the entire series, after suffering what appeared to be a serious hamstring injury playing in the Hundred on Sunday night.

Stokes, 33, has been ever-present since taking over as England Captain midway through 2022, but that 26-game stretch appears over after he left the field in agony at Emirates Old Trafford, 10 days shy of the Test being played at the same venue.

Batting for Northern Superchargers against Manchester Originals, he pulled up after haring through for a leg bye from the 12th ball of the match’s second innings and collapsed to the turf, holding the back of the left knee operated on last December and tossing his gloves away in frustration. Stokes also punched his leg in obvious anguish while being treated by the Superchargers medical team, before limping off the field and being wheeled into the pavilion on a wheeled stretcher.

England takes on the Sri Lankans in three matches spanning just 21 days, placing his further participation this summer in doubt.

Ollie Pope is England’s Vice-Captain and would be the obvious choice to lead the side in Stokes’ absence.

Pope, 26, has little Captaincy experience but did deputise for Surrey earlier this summer when regular Twenty20 captain Chris Jordan was away on international duty.

England have already lost Zak Crawley for the remainder of the home season due to a fractured finger, with Dan Lawrence set to open for the first time in Tests.