OLLIE AND CO CAN SHOULDER THE BURDEN

Absent Stokes has complete faith in stand-in leader Pope

- By Mike Walters

BEN STOKES presented England with a shoulder to cry on when he was ruled out of the final instalment of their five-act drama with India.

In the short term, scans revealing a grade-three muscle tear in his right shoulder have left England’s attack looking threadbare for today’s final Test at The Oval.

But, in the bigger picture, captain Stokes is now in a race for full fitness ahead of this winter’s Ashes tour.

If the timescale for his recovery is towards the back of the expected six to 10-week layoff, there will be little margin for setbacks. The king of Bazball is confident he will make it — the rest of us will be dusting down our prayer mats.

After the fractious finale to Sunday’s draw at Old Trafford, Stokes said: “I don’t want to eat my words but the likelihood of me not playing in the final Test is very unlikely.”

However, when he woke up on Monday morning feeling sore, the writing was not just on the wall. It was trailed in dark plumes of smoke across the sky.