England are confident Test captain Ben Stokes will be fit for the start of the tour of India next month but confirmed he will not bowl in the five-match series.
Stokes will lead a 16-man squad that includes uncapped spinners Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir for a series that is arguably the toughest in world cricket.
England’s captain faces a race against time to be fit for the first Test that starts in Hyderabad on 25 January after undergoing surgery on the chronic injury to his left knee that has prevented him from bowling since the second Test of last summer’s Ashes series.
Stokes faces a recovery period of between five and seven weeks having had surgery on 29 November. Given England leave for a pre-series camp in the United Arab Emirates on 12 January, it is touch and go whether he will be fit for the first Test, with England already having a contingency for vice-captain Ollie Pope to lead the side in Hyderabad if necessary.
Yet Rob Key, England’s director of men’s cricket, is confident Stokes will make it, even if he has confirmed the 32-year-old won’t be back bowling in Test cricket until next summer.
“Surgery has been a success, we expect him to be fit,” he said.
“We are not expecting him to be able to bowl. We are confident he will be ready to play. We never had him down to be bowling in India. This is an ongoing process and we will find out as we go along. It’s something to take slowly, we won’t try to rush it.”
England squad for India tour
- Ben Stokes – captain (Durham)
- Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire)
- James Anderson (Lancashire)
- Gus Atkinson (Surrey)
- Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire)
- Shoaib Bashir (Somerset)
- Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
- Zak Crawley (Kent)
- Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
- Ben Foakes (Surrey)
- Tom Hartley (Lancashire)
- Jack Leach (Somerset)
- Ollie Pope (Surrey)
- Ollie Robinson (Sussex)
- Joe Root (Yorkshire)
- Mark Wood (Durham)
Archer plays for old school team without England’s permission
Key also admitted England were blindsided by news that Jofra Archer had played a game for his old school team in Barbados last Sunday.
Archer, who signed a new two-year central contract in October, is meant to have his schedule managed by England as he plots his way back from a long-term elbow injury.
The fast bowler was blocked from entering the auction for next year’s Indian Premier League as England try to manage his fitness ahead of a possible return for next June’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA.
But after spending time with England in Barbados last week, bowling in the nets ahead of the final ODI against the West Indies, it emerged that he had turned out for Christ Church Foundation against Lords last Sunday, taking 4 for 18.
Archer, who grew up in Barbados, should have received permission to play in the match from England.
Yet Key admitted he had no idea about his appearance just moments after he had spoken about how England were “taking control of him coming back”, adding: “We just want to take this as slow as possible.”
Told about his appearance for his old team, Key replied: “I’m not aware of that.”
i understands Key is relaxed about Archer’s unauthorised appearance but will speak to him about needing to communicate with England before being allowed to play any form of cricket in the future.
India vs England 2024 Tests
- 1st Test: India v England, 25-29 January, Hyderabad
- 2nd Test: India v England, 2-6 February, Vizag
- 3rd Test: India v England, 15-19 February, Rajkot
- 4th Test: India v England, 23-27 February, Ranchi
- 5th Test: India v England, 7-11 March, Dharamsala
‘Bashir can be world-class’
Key meanwhile revealed he was first alerted to 20-year-old off-spinner Bashir when watching him bowl on an England & Wales Cricket Board app last summer. Bashir has only six first-class game and averages 67 with the ball for Somerset but impressed Key and Test coach Brendon McCullum on an England Lions training camp in Abu Dhabi last month.
“We have this app and every now and again you catch a glimpse of a couple of balls, and you see that there’s something different there, or that looks special,” said Key. “Then we had him on the Lions. His ceiling is really high.
“This is the start of his journey, where we will hopefully see a world-class spinner in the future.”