Ben Stokes’ participation in the first Test of England’s tour to Pakistan remains uncertain, while Zak Crawley has declared himself fit to play. Stokes, who has been recovering from a hamstring injury, batted and bowled briefly in the nets on Friday but his inclusion in the team is not guaranteed.
If Stokes is ruled out, Ollie Pope will continue as England’s captain after leading them to a 2-1 win against Sri Lanka. Chris Woakes could also be in contention to play his first overseas Test in two-and-a-half years, providing balance to the side from No. 7.
Crawley, who missed the Sri Lanka series with a broken finger, believes England have the depth to cope with Stokes’ potential absence. “We’ve got a really deep squad, with plenty of options with the ball and with the bat as well,” he said.
England are expected to name their XI two days before the first Test, and Crawley suggested a late call would be made on Stokes’ inclusion. “He seems to be going well, recovering well from his injury,” he said. “We don’t know just yet. I think he’s got to do a few more tests, but he’s been doing some running and stuff.”
Crawley himself has not played competitively since England’s third Test against West Indies in July. He fractured his little finger while dropping a catch in the slips and his absence highlighted his importance to the side.
England trained for the first time in Multan on Friday, the venue for the first two Tests of the series. Crawley said he felt “brand new” and ready to play, despite not fielding in the slips.
“The finger is all right,” Crawley said. “It’s as good as it could be at this stage. I’ve recovered well from it. It was a nasty break at the time, but I’ve recovered well and I don’t feel it at all while I’m batting.”
Crawley set the tone for England’s clean sweep on their most recent tour to Pakistan with an 86-ball hundred on the first day of the series in Rawalpindi. He believes he has become a more adaptable player since then.
“You’ve got to read the conditions,” he said. “That’s something I’ve thought about in the past couple of months, being more adaptable, playing the right shots, still being very aggressive – that’s always going to be me – but just playing the right shots.”
