Fifteen minutes into the fourth day of the fifth and final Test in Sydney, England captain Ben Stokes was taken off the pitch due to a right adductor injury.
After making his tenth delivery of the day, Stokes pulled up during his second over on Wednesday and headed straight for the dressing room to leave. He was 126.4 overs into Australia’s first innings, with the hosts ahead by 139 runs at 523 for 7, and four balls into his 28th over, which had been the most work for England’s bowlers to that time. The over was completed by Jacob Bethell.
According to an ECB representative, “Ben Stokes is currently being assessed for a right adductor complaint.” “We will provide an update when more information is available.”
For the first time since being named Stokes’ deputy for the tour, vice captain Harry Brook assumed the role of captain. Australia was bowled out for 567, a first-innings advantage of 183, after losing their last three wickets for 32 runs.
Ben Stokes was only off the pitch for less than forty minutes as a result.
A player who is out of the field “for longer than eight minutes” is required by ICC playing conditions to wait until the team’s batting innings has advanced for an equivalent period of time before entering the field, or at No. 7 (when their side has lost five wickets). Those situations were averted, but with England already trailing by 183, it is still unclear if Ben Stokes will bat at his typical position of No. 6.
The fact that Stokes’ injury occurred on the penultimate Ashes scheduled day is at least a plus for England. By the time he left the pitch, a consolation victory was already unlikely, and his team was already 3-1 behind after the Ashes were given up after three Test matches. Ben Stokes’ next scheduled match is the first of three Test matches against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4, now that he is not a part of England’s white-ball plans. In order to prepare for that series, he might also aim to play for Durham again in the County Championship.
In the past 18 months, Stokes has sustained four injuries, and this is the fourth series in a row that has been hindered. Due to a right hamstring rupture he suffered during the Hundred in August, Ben Stokes was unable to play in the first Test of their winter tour of Pakistan and missed the 2024 home series against Sri Lanka. He experienced a recurrence of his hamstring rupture during the third and last game of England’s series in New Zealand in December 2024.
Due to a right shoulder injury, he was essentially ruled out of the fifth Test match against India last summer. On the penultimate day of the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford, he bowled despite obvious pain, pushing for a series-ending victory that would have kept him from participating in the final at the Kia Oval. After holding out for a draw, India won the last Test to tie the series at two.
Ben Stokes has deliberately avoided franchise competitions because of his intense emphasis on his body, which includes increasing his gym sessions and reducing his alcohol intake. This includes the ECB’s own Hundred competition; prior to his shoulder injury, he had ruled himself out of the 2025 edition with Northern Superchargers. With three Test matches against Pakistan beginning immediately following the conclusion of this summer’s championship, he has alluded to doing so once more this year.
In all five Ashes Test matches, Ben Stokes has been England’s most dependable seamer. He has taken 15 wickets at 25.13 since beginning the series at Perth with 5 for 23 in the opening innings. At the time of his injury, he was the team’s second-highest wicket-taker, but Josh Tongue’s 3 for 97 to dismiss Australia at the SCG later surpassed his record. Ben Stokes had bowled 101.1 overs, while only Brydon Carse had bowled 130.4 overs. On Tuesday (day two), he bowled England to the second new ball with a seven-over session. This was his fourth spell of a similar length this series, including an eight-over effort after lunch on the first day of the fourth Test in Melbourne.
However, for a large portion of the series, Ben Stokes’ use of his own bowling has been questioned. In his encounter against England, who were missing their specialised opening bowlers Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson, his hesitancy to take the new ball was very evident. Since the series’ opening innings, he has frequently had to make up for his teammates’ misbehaviour.
After recovering from knee surgery at the end of 2023, Ben Stokes had started to tour as the squad’s most fit player. He had so agreed to a two-year extension to his ECB contract, which will carry him to the end of the 2027 Ashes summer, and was hopeful about his future after the series.
Ben Stokes stated, “I’ve got through quite a lot in this series,” prior to this last Ashes Test. “To stay where I am right now, you do have to put in more effort away from the sport on the pitch as you get older. Over the past several years, I’ve had a few serious injuries. When you have them, you have to constantly work on doing the little things that you probably don’t want to do most of the time. As you become older, you have to do those things. It gets more difficult to get out of bed in the morning, and everything gets a little more difficult.
“But once you’re out there, my competitive nature takes over. Everything seems a little more sombre when the game is over. Running, going to the gym, and doing all the other things are necessary to stay going. I want to continue doing a lot more, but my contract expires at the end of 2027. I’ll continue to put in a lot of effort to get that onto the pitch.”
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