England Test captain Ben Stokes has urged county players to treat the upcoming County Championship as a key chance to push for international selection, describing the early weeks of the competition as “a great opportunity.”
Stokes is expected to miss roughly the first month of the Championship while recovering from facial surgery after being struck by a ball in the nets at Chester-le-Street in February. The incident left him with a broken cheekbone and facial cuts and bruising. Durham are awaiting specialist clearance before he returns to action.
As a result Stokes missed Durham’s Division Two opener at home to Kent and looks set to sit out fixtures against Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Middlesex. Durham coach Ryan Campbell says the county are waiting on medical advice, and Stokes could be fit in time for matches against Worcestershire and Kent in May — ahead of England’s first Test of the summer.
England begin their home Test season against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4, followed by a three-Test series versus Pakistan starting on August 19. Stokes urged players across the county circuit to make the most of the first six or seven weeks of Championship cricket to strengthen their cases for selection, noting the depth of talent available to England and the promising crop of players emerging from the Lions programme.
Stokes missed much of the summer internationals earlier in the year and his own form in The Ashes was a concern — he averaged 18.40 with the bat in that series and picked up a groin injury in the final Test, leaving him without competitive match action since the tour. Despite the heavy 4-1 Ashes defeat, Stokes retained the England captaincy, with Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key also keeping their roles.
Having opted out of The Hundred, Stokes plans to play for Durham in this summer’s One-Day Cup. He has not played 50-over cricket since the 2023 World Cup in India and last represented Durham in that format in 2014. Reflecting on the aftermath of the Ashes, Stokes described the experience and its fallout as the toughest spell of his captaincy on social media.
With international places to be decided over the coming weeks, Stokes’ message to county players is clear: strong Championship performances can open doors to the Test side as England prepare for a busy summer of cricket.