Stokes ready to bowl more on 'raked' pitch

Captain Ben Stokes says helium is acceptable capable to play a greater relation with the shot aft England picked 3 spinners connected a transportation that has been "raked" for the deciding Test against Pakistan.

All-rounder Stokes bowled 10 overs successful England's decision successful the 2nd Test, his archetypal crippled successful much than 2 months pursuing a hamstring injury.

Gus Atkinson and Stokes are the lone gait bowlers successful the England XI for Thursday's 3rd Test successful Rawalpindi. The tourists person recalled leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed to signifier a rotation trio alongside Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir.

"It was bully to get done it," said Stokes of the 2nd Test. "I person enactment myself done my paces astatine training, bowled 2 spells.

"Coming successful and being 1 of lone 2 seamers, I'm afloat assured that I'll beryllium capable to get much retired of myself this week than I did past week."

Stokes, 33, hardly bowled from the outpouring of 2023 to the location summertime of 2024 arsenic helium struggled with a semipermanent near genu injury.

He had country past November and was yet capable to instrumentality to his afloat relation arsenic an all-rounder until helium suffered the hamstring wounded playing for Northern Superchargers successful The Hundred successful August.

Now, England's enactment raises the imaginable of Stokes opening the bowling for lone the 3rd juncture successful his 106-Test career.

The past clip was connected the aforesaid Rawalpindi crushed successful 2022, erstwhile England won an epic archetypal Test connected the mode to a 3-0 bid win.

After England won a run-filled archetypal Test of this series, Pakistan opted to reuse the aforesaid transportation successful Multan for the 2nd Test. Their spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan shared each 20 wickets arsenic the hosts levelled the series.

Captain Shan Masood expressed a tendency for the Rawalpindi transportation to turn, and pictures emerged connected societal media connected Sunday of the aboveground being dried with industrial-sized fans, heaters and windbreaks.

Stokes had nary objections to the mentation methods, but helium besides said it is "pretty obvious" the transportation has been raked.

"I've ne'er been a groundsman, but you'd deliberation a rake would assistance the spin," said Stokes. "We tin person a bully conjecture which ends the Pakistan spinners volition run from.

"There's not excessively overmuch writer to clasp everything together. It volition beryllium absorbing to spot however it goes. It volition beryllium a beauteous bully wicket for the archetypal mates of days, astatine least."

Ahmed, past aged 18, became the youngest antheral to play a Test for England successful the last lucifer of the bid successful Pakistan successful 2022, marking his debut with a five-wicket haul.

The Leicestershire bowler has played 3 much Tests since, the past of which came against India successful Rajkot successful February. He has taken 18 wickets astatine an mean of 34.5.

"Leg-spinners person an astonishing quality to interruption a crippled open," said Stokes. "Having his batting quality little down the bid is besides a monolithic bonus.

"The mode Leach and Bashir person bowled has been fantastic successful these archetypal 2 Tests. Adding Rehan's escaped tone and desperation to alteration the crippled each clip he's got the shot successful his manus is simply a monolithic bonus for america this week."