Birmingham [UK], June 21 : England Test skipper Ben Stokes believes that the seven-day break will be sufficient for his bowling attack to recover ahead of back-to-back fixtures at Lord's and Headingley in the Ashes 2023 series.
England ended up on the losing side in the first Test match at Edgbaston on Tuesday and lost narrowly by two wickets. The second men's Test will begin on June 28 at Lord's.
"Seven days is actually quite a long time to give everyone a good rest. We'll meet up again in three or four days' time I think, and we'll assess how everyone's going and we'll have to make a decision from there," Ben Stokes said as quoted by ESPNcricifo.
One of the major injury concerns that have emerged in the English camp is Moeen Ali's spinning finger. His finger got cut open on the second day of the first test match.
"I told Mo to tell me if his finger was sore, and I'd sensed that it was even before that. For him to come back into his first Test match and operate in the way that he did and really put himself through the pain barrier for the team [was great]," Stokes said.
"You could see what it meant to him going out to play for England again with a huge smile on his face. I selected him for his match-winning moments. He had a few of them with the ball and nearly got us over the line... [The break] gives Mo a good chance for his finger to heal up," he added.
Australia now has a 1-0 lead in the series.
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