England’s Ben Stokes said the knee issue that hampered him in the Ashes opener was a flare-up of an older injury and the all-rounder is confident he can manage it going into the second match in Adelaide this week. Stokes scored five and 14 in the nine-wicket defeat by Australia in Brisbane and bowled only 12 wicketless overs after jarring his knee. It was his first competitive match since July after a mental health break and rehabilitation following surgery on a broken finger.
“Having a long break is going to show itself, but there are no excuses,” Stokes wrote in his column for The Mirror.
“I didn’t do anything whatsoever except take a catch and bowl a few no balls so the one positive is I probably can’t get much worse.
“People will have seen me rubbing my knee from time to time when I was in the field, but rest assured I’m fine. It’s an old injury that flares up every now and again, but I know how to manage it.
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