Broken Stokes steps aside for Bethell in India finale

Warwickshire prodigy will bat at No 6 in crunch fifth Test

- LAWRENCE OSTLERE

The news filtered through on Wednesday morning just as bleary-eyed journalists were shuffling around The Oval's perimeter towards an underground press room. Ben Stokes was out. England were heading into the heat of battle in this decisive fifth Test without their warrior captain.

In walked Stokes looking like a Viking god, blonde locks slicked back, calves chiselled out of stone, to explain why he could give no more to this absorbing series against India. “I’m very disappointed. It’s a decent tear to one of the muscles that I can’t pronounce. We took as long as we could to make the decision.”

Stokes’ shoulder injury will take six or seven weeks to recover, and he hinted that the looming Ashes series, which begins in Perth in November, was a factor in his decision to step back. “It was one of those, weighing up the risk and reward, and the risk was way too high if I damaged it further than it is. I wouldn’t expect any of my players to play with this kind of injury.”

It has been a gruelling few weeks, physically, emotionally, tactically, taking a toll on no one more than Stokes. He has never bowled as many overs in a series, a labour in itself, and he has done it while hitting 304 runs, diving around the field, plotting India’s downfall, rallying his players, inciting confrontation and answering a rapt press.

His injury felt like an inevitable consequence of all those demands, slain not by India but by Test cricket itself. Not even Stokes is built to play at this intensity, with so little rest over what has been a blisteringly hot English summer.