(Reuters) - England all-rounder Ben Stokes will step up his return from a hamstring injury by playing for the Durham Jets in their opening match of the domestic Twenty20 Blast tournament against the Yorkshire Vikings on July 5.
The 27-year-old, who sustained the injury in the build-up to England's second test match against Pakistan earlier this month, will only bat during his comeback match and not bowl.
"Stokes has been training with England since the latter part of the one-day international series against Australia and will rejoin his county early next week leading into the start of Vitality Blast competition," Durham said in a statement.
Barring any hiccups, Stokes is expected to return for England's third Twenty20 international against India in Bristol on July 8.
(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; editing by Andrew Roche)
