Ben Stokes, the England Test captain, has been ruled out of the remainder of the English summer after suffering a hamstring injury while playing in the ongoing season of The Hundred. The allrounder tore his left hamstring while playing for Northern Superchargers on Sunday. As a result of the scans conducted in Leeds on Tuesday, Stokes will miss England's three-match Test series against Sri Lanka," the England and Wales Cricket Board announced in a release on Tuesday (August 13).Stokes is hoping to return for England's tour of Pakistan, scheduled to be played in early October. England's next assignment, the Test series against Sri Lanka is set to begin on August 21 at Old Trafford. England haven't announced any replacement for Stokes in the squad, which will now be led by Ollie Pope.
Meanwhile, former English batter Ian Bell was named the batting coach of Sri Lanka for the series against England. "Sri Lanka Cricket appointed former England batsman Ian Bell as the ‘Batting Coach’ of the national team for the ongoing tour. He will start working with the team on August 16th and remain until the conclusion of the three-test match series," SLC confirmed in a statement. Sri Lanka cricket's CEO Ashley de Silva highlighted that the appointment is a strategic move to attain local knowledge for the tour of England. "We appointed Ian to bring in a person with local knowledge to help the players with key insights on the conditions there. Ian has a lot of experience playing in England, and we believe his input will help our team in this crucial tour,” said Mr Ashley De Silva, CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket.
