London: Ben Stokes did not care about his injury-ravaged body while bowling those difference making overs for England over the course of the first four Tests but he says the risk is far too high to go out one last time in the series for the team he leads from the front.
Stokes, the leading wicket-taker of the series with 17 scalps, will be a mere spectator at The Oval, robbing the series finale of his charismatic on-field presence.
No Jofra Archer, and possibly no Jasprit Bumrah in the opposition, also takes sheen off what has been a riveting series.
After all, all those long spells Stokes bowled at Lord’s and Manchester had an adverse impact on his right shoulder, leading to a muscle tear. The fighter that he is, Stokes was bullish about his participation at The Oval but the scans revealed he could not go any further even if he wanted to.
Stokes will call the shots from the dressing room but England will not have his invaluable service with both bat and ball.
“It’s one of those weighing up the risk-reward, and the risk was way too high for damaging this any further than it currently is. I didn’t want to... and I wouldn’t expect to put any one of my players at risk with an injury like this. I’ll start rehabbing and focus on what we’ve got coming up.”