Ben Stokes looks set to play in an unchanged England team for Thursday’s second Test with Pakistan after taking a full part in training following a stomach illness.
The 24-year-old had been absent from the team’s preparations on Tuesday after picking up the bug but reported for duty 24 hours later, playing their regular football match as a warm-up before batting and bowling in the nets.
Despite this apparent return to full health, his captain, Alastair Cook, insisted a decision would be made on Stokes on the morning of the match with the sapping heat in Dubai requiring players to be fully fit before taking the field.
“He’s had a virus – a 24 hour bug – and he didn’t look well yesterday,” said Cook. “He should be fine but we have got to be careful in one sense; it depends how badly he has been knocked about – five days in this heat you have to be 100% before you start.
“We will leave it as his decision, he will know how his body feels. My gut instinct is we stay unchanged.”
Should Stokes struggle overnight, England could turn to the spin-bowling all-rounder Samit Patel as a replacement. The pitch at the Dubai International Stadium has been tipped to turn but Cook will firstly look to continue with the XI that came close to winning the drawn first Test in Abu Dhabi last week.
