England head coach Brendon McCullum revealed that Ben Stokes is 'training his arse off' in order to fully recover before the crucial Ashes series against Australia in November. Notably, the all-rounder had sustained a shoulder injury ahead of the the fifth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against India.
Stokes didn't feature in the final match of the red-ball series as India went on to script a famous 6-run victory over the hosts at The Oval. The 34-year-old is not expected to play competitive cricket until The Ashes as England want him fit for the highly important assignment.
McCullum remarked that Stokes had put in a sensational performance against India in the Test series and added that the England side will neeed him in order to be 'competitive' in Australia.
“Stokesy will be training his arse off as he always does, and making sure he gets as fit as what he possibly can. The last series we saw from Stokesy is probably the best series he’s had as captain, so that’s a good sign. We know that for us to be competitive down in Australia, a fit, firing and motivated Ben Stokes is going to give us every chance," McCullum said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
The England coach also praised seamer Jofra Archer for his stunning spell of 4/18 against South Africa in the third ODI which helped the Three Lions in bundling out the visitors for just 72 runs after setting up a target of 415. McCullum further highlighted how important Archer will be for the side in The Ashes.
ALSO READ: 'He is at his peak...': Ravi Shastri predicts this bowler to play 'vital' role for India in Asia Cup
“That was an unbelievable spell. It was box-office bowling…[It’s] not just his pace, but his skill, his ability to shift it both ways and to test batters with the steep bounce he gets. He’s a proper cricketer, hence why we’ve taken our time with him to make sure that we give him every chance to be in the biggest series of all of our lives," McCullum stated.
“It’s always a delicate balance. Sometimes you need to keep bowling and you need to keep ticking over. I think a lot of injuries happen when you almost down the tools completely, not that I really understand how that works… He’s going to be a huge player when we get to Australia, as a number of others are. But I don’t think we’ll wrap him up [in cotton wool] per se. We’ll just keep working with him on how he’s going and work out what’s best for him," he added.
England's schedule for the remainder of 2025
Meanwhile, with the three-match ODI series now concluded, England will be takking on South Africa in a T20I series which will also consist of three games and will begin from September 10. Following that, they will be touring Ireland for another T20I series before heading to New Zealand for a white-ball tour in October. Their final assignment of the year will be The Ashes which will commence from November 21.