Ben Stokes shuffled off Trent Bridge on Sunday evening insisting he will be back for the final Test, sore biceps tendon or not. After 140 overs with the ball in this series – already a personal high – the England captain summed up his approach in the middle: “pain is just an emotion.”
England’s attack has toiled through nearly 900 overs across the first four matches, so the 33-year-old knows bodies are creaking. “If you look at how long we’ve been out in the field and the overs that we bowled as a bowling unit, everyone is going to be pretty sore and pretty tired going into the last game of the series,” he said. A short turnaround before Thursday’s start at The Oval leaves minimal time for rest, but Stokes is reluctant to stand down. “Hopefully, it settles down and we’ll be good as gold for the last game… I don’t want to eat my words, but the likelihood that I won’t play is very unlikely.”
He bowled 11 overs on the final day in Nottingham – eight of them on the trot – grimacing and clutching his right shoulder between deliveries. Only two days earlier he had retired hurt with the bat, then returned to post his first Test hundred in two years. The all-rounder admitted he has “been better” physically, yet his appetite for involvement remains undimmed.
“It’s been a pretty big workload so far in the series,” Stokes reflected. “I had a big week last week at Lord’s, with time spent out in the middle with bat in hand and obviously overs bowled, and then same again this week. I said it a few times to the guys out there: ‘Pain is just an emotion.’ It’s just one of those things.”
On the precise niggle, he added: “It is actually my bicep tendon. It obviously had quite a lot of workload through it, just been creeping around. But yeah, [I spent] a lot of time out in the middle doing my job as an allrounder this week and [it] just got a little bit flared up… It didn’t get any worse throughout the day, just stayed the same, so that’s why I kept on going.”
Selection for the Oval decider is less certain for the rest of England’s seamers. Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse have led the line in all four Tests, while Jofra Archer has managed back-to-back appearances after four years away from the format. “These recovery days are going to be pretty important and we might have to make a few decisions to get some fresh legs in. But that won’t be decided until we get closer to the last game,” Stokes acknowledged.
That could bring opportunities for Gus Atkinson, Sam Cook, Jamie Overton or Josh Tongue, all waiting in the wings. Rotation is hardly a new concept, yet timing it right is rarely straightforward. England do not play another Test until the Ashes in November, so the temptation to squeeze every drop from a tiring attack is real.
One thing, at least, seems settled: Stokes intends to lead from the front once more. Whether the shoulder agrees is another matter, but as he keeps reminding team-mates – and perhaps himself – pain, apparently, is only a feeling.
