Very confident I can dominate again with both bat and ball, asserts Ben Stokes ahead of Test return
Ben Stokes has expressed excitement over his return to red-ball cricket with the English Test summer fast approaching, beginning with a one-off game against Zimbabwe. The skipper revealed he intends to play as an all-rounder wile ensuring he does not push too hard to avoid any injury recurrences.
England's Test captain Ben Stokes is set to return to the all-whites on May 22 to kick off the home summer against Zimbabwe in a one-off four day game at Nottingham. The veteran has been out of action since December and has been undergoing recovery since but has declared he is fully fit to feature as an all-rounder for the remainder of the season.
"I feel great. Training and playing are completely different: no matter what you do at training, you just cannot replicate the intensity that your body is put through in a game… As excited as I am to get back on the field, I do know that it is going to be completely different to what I've been doing in my training," Stokes told Nasser Hussain in an interview for Sky Sports.
Stokes had first suffered a blow to his hamstring at The Hundred in August which forced him to miss the opening Test in Pakistan two months later. However, the 33-year-old returned for the remaining two games and even sent down 10 overs across two innings in the second encounter in Multan, albeit the visitors did end up losing both Tests and the series 2-1. In December, Stokes operated as a full-time all-rounder in New Zealander, scoring 158 runs and scalping seven wickets to help lead England to a 2-1 series triumph. Yet, the tour ended on a sour note when Stokes suffered a recurrence of the hamstring issue, ruling him out of a rare franchise assignment in the SA20 where he had signed with eventual champions MI Cape Town. Nevertheless, Stokes is confident of returning at the top of his game.
"In terms of my role as a player, that fourth seamer, batting at No. 6, and trying to dominate every situation that I find myself in, whether I've got the bat in my hand or the ball in my hand, is what I want to get back into doing out on the field, and trying to do it on the biggest stage. I know I've done it before, and it's something that I'm very, very confident in myself that I can do.
"This time around, the medical team and myself were like, 'We're just going to absolutely nail it this time. It was a slow and long process, particularly the first two months… it's not been anywhere near as taxing, physically or mentally," Stokes added.
England will host Zimbabwe for the first time since 2003 in May, the visitors fresh off drawing a home series 1-1 against Bangladesh. Right-arm quick Blessing Muzarabani has been the standout performer for the side of late, his 26 scalps at an average of 18.61 the most for any bowler in Tests in 2025.
"Zimbabwe have got some seriously experienced cricketers. They'll be desperate to come to England and turn us over, and what I can say is that I'm absolutely desperate for us to show that we are the better team on those four days," Stokes said.
However, the team's main challenge will lay against India who will play out a five-game series beginning June 20. The last time the Men in Blue had toured, they had walked with a 2-2 draw after losing a postponed fifth Test.
"Physically, it's going to be tough, but mentally, throughout that whole series, it's going to be a tough, draining series. It always is against India: five Test matches is incredibly hard," Stokes concluded.
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