Stokes 'definitely on course' to bowl in first Ashes Test

He appeared to jar his left knee – which he has had to manage carefully for several years – when taking a catch at short fine leg to dismiss Curtis Campher, and was restricted in his movement in the field for the rest of Ireland’s second innings.

“I actually didn’t pick it [the ball] up, and I actually landed quite awkwardly on it [my knee],” Stokes said at the post-match presentation, when asked about the catch. “My weight went on the inside of my knee, like I hyper-extended.”

Stokes insisted on the eve of the Test that he was fit to bowl against Ireland, though he added that there should not be “doom and gloom” if he did not. He briefly bowled in the warm-ups on the third morning with bowling coach David Saker watching on, and said he was “really happy” with how it felt.

“I bowled this morning – the first time I’d bowled since being back from India, so it would have been about four weeks actually,” he said. “I got through that and was really happy with where I was. So no, nothing [for England fans] to worry about.”

He later suggested that his grimaces after completing the catch owed mainly to his age. “I was really happy with how I bowled [before play],” Stokes said. “I bowled for about 20 minutes and I got through that really well. Obviously I have got time to build up before I push back into flat out, but I just landed quite awkwardly when I took that catch.

“I didn’t quite see it so had to adjust myself and landed on my left leg and it twisted in a really strange way. It was fine, I just don’t know what really happened. It was one of those things – but I am 32 tomorrow so that probably explains it.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Test Match Special, Stokes said he was “taking the positives” and that he “wouldn’t have bowled in this match… unless everyone else went down”. He added: “I am definitely on course to bowl in the first Test.”

England named an unchanged 16-man squad for the first two Ashes Tests on Saturday afternoon, which will report to Birmingham on June 12 before training on June 13, three days before the start of the Edgbaston Test.

In the meantime, Stokes is among a number of players due to travel to Scotland to play golf next weekend, while Australia are playing India in the World Test Championship final at The Oval.

“The new way is you get as ready as you possibly can and whatever you do, you just get yourself in the right frame of mind for the games you’ve got coming up,” Stokes said. “This was obviously a great opportunity for us to get back together as a group and we’ll be doing that again before the Ashes.

“We’ll get together and spend some quality time together as a group and have some fun together before the big Ashes series starts. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Source: ESPN Crickinfo