Ben Stokes suffered an injury scare on Day 3 of the England-Ireland Test at Lord’s, which also occurred to be the game’s last day as England won by ten wickets. The England captain staggered after taking Curtis Campher’s catch at short fine leg, but he remained on the pitch. He later indicated that he had nothing to be concerned about, and that he was pleased with his fitness after bowling the morning before the third day’s play.
Stokes said
“Actually I didn’t pick it [the ball] up and I landed quite awkwardly on it [the left knee]. My weight went on the inside of the knee like I hyper-extended but I bowled this morning, the first time I have bowled since being back from India, so it’s been about 4 weeks actually and I got through that and I was really happy with where I was, so nothing to worry about,” Stokes said at the post-match presentation no Saturday (June 3).
“I was really happy with how I bowled [before the start of day]. 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,” Stokes said. “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.”
England won the one-off Test rather comfortably, but they did have to bat again after Ireland put up a battling display with the bat in the second innings. Stokes lauded the visiting team’s performance, while claiming that the nature of the field, which became flatter as the game continued, showed England what to anticipate and what they needed to accomplish during the Ashes.
“(I) thought Ireland came out and showed grit and determination. Gives us a little insight into what we might have to do against Australia. It got flatter as it went on. Trying to take the game on in our own way allowed us to potentially bowl them out without batting again. Ireland had to get a really good score to put us under pressure. Good test and credit to Ireland today,” said Stokes.
Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium onFacebook,Twitter, and Instagram
