England's cricket team arrived in Islamabad early Sunday to play its first test series in Pakistan since 2005. Led by Ben Stokes, England will kick off the tour in Rawalpindi -- an adjacent city to Islamabad -- which hosts the first test from next Thursday. The second test will be played at Multan from Dec. 9-13 before England round off the tour with the final test at Karachi from Dec. 17-21. England had played a seven-match T20 series in Pakistan prior to the T20 World Cup in Australia where it went on to beat Pakistan in the final. England was due to tour Pakistan last year before the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates but abandoned the tour due to security concerns after New Zealand had aborted its tour to Pakistan just minutes before the toss in the first ODI at Rawalpindi. There were some concerns over England’s test tour to Pakistan after former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was wounded in Wazirabad, a district in eastern Punjab province, during his protest against the sitting government. “It’s been a long time since England have played test cricket in Pakistan,” Stokes had said in Abu Dhabi last Friday where the team trained for a week before flying out to Pakistan. Read more: England to play 3 Test matches in Pakistan in December “With what happened with Imran Khan recently, there was a little bit of concern, but we have Reg Dickason, who has been the security man for many years with England, and we left it in his capable hands.” Last Monday Khan had met with the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja and British High Commissioner in Lahore and assured the officials that his protest against the government will not disturb England cricket team’s tour to Pakistan. Pakistan had hosted England twice in a test series at UAE over the last 17 years with foreign teams reluctant to travel to Pakistan after the Sri Lanka cricket team was attacked in Lahore in 2009. However, since 2015 Pakistan has started regaining the confidence of foreign countries that it could organize international games at home and have hosted almost all the major cricketing nations, including South Africa and Australia. The three-test series will be part of World Test Championship where Pakistan is sitting in fifth place while England is seventh. Pakistan needs to win the three-test series to keep its hopes alive for next year’s final. Read more: England crush Pakistan in T20 decider to win series 4-3 Pakistan will be without its key fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, who has been ruled out of the series due to knee injury. The home team has also dropped middle-order batter Fawad Alam and ace leg-spinner Yasir Shah due to poor form. Uncapped fast bowlers Haris Rauf and Mohammad Ali have been called up to the squad along with mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed, who is expected to make his debut during the series. England also has injury concerns ahead of the first test with fast bowler Mark Wood in doubt due to a hip injury. Stuart Broad has been given paternity leave from the tour as England will be banking on its experienced fast bowler James Anderson to trouble Pakistan batters. England has included 18-year-old Leicestershire allrounder Rehan Ahmed in the squad after originally drafting him as a net bowler for the tour. Squad: Ben Stokes (capt), Harry Brook, Joe Root, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Ben Foakes, Will Jacks, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, James Anderson, Jamie Overton, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Rehan Ahmed.

English fast bowler Sam Curran has been outstanding throughout the T20 World Cup 2022. He conceded only 12 runs in the final and bagged three wickets against Pakistan that helped England to put pressure on Pakistan early on. Curran has been awarded the player of the final, but while receiving the award, he said Ben Stokes deserves it more. “I don't think I should be getting this,” Curran said. “I think Ben Stokes should get this.” Curran, the left-arm pacer, ended up taking 13 wickets in six matches. He has also been awarded the player of the tournament. His bowling was one of the highlights of this T20 World Cup. Read more: T20 World Cup Final: England need 138 to lift Championship title “The big square boundaries, so I knew my bowling would work with big boundaries. I mixed it up with slower balls to make it tough for the batter. Incredibly special (to win the World Cup,” Curran added. “We all look up to him (Stokes). People question him (about the final of 2016) but he's incredible.” Allrounder Stokes scored an unbeaten 52 and scored the winning run for England. He failed to defend 24 runs in the final of the 2016 World Cup in Kolkata. After six years, he is the hero of England’s victorious World Cup campaign. Read more: Stokes leads England to T20 World Cup championship England are now the champions of both white-ball World Cups— the 50-over and T20Is. They are the first team to achieve such a fate.

England test cricket captain Ben Stokes will retire from one-day internationals after Tuesday’s match with South Africa, ending an ODI career which peaked with winning the World Cup in 2019. Stokes said Monday he remains fully committed to Twenty20 internationals as well as the test captaincy, but that he needed a break from the punishing schedule. “As hard as a decision as this was to come to, it’s not as hard dealing with the fact I can’t give my teammates 100% of myself in this format anymore. The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it,” Stokes said in a statement. Also read: Stokes chosen as England test captain “Three formats are just unsustainable for me now. Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us, but I also feel that I am taking the place of another player who can give (England ODI captain) Jos (Buttler) and the rest of the team their all.” The match against South Africa will be Stokes’ 105th ODI for England and comes at the Riverside ground at Chester-le-Street, the home of Stokes’ county team Durham. Stokes’ defining performance in ODIs came in the 2019 World Cup final, when he scored 84 not out as England tied New Zealand’s score and then eight more runs in the deciding super over. Also read: Ben Stokes take 'indefinite break' from all cricket Since taking over the test captaincy in April, Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum have transformed the team with an aggressive, big-hitting style more reminiscent of ODI and T20 cricket than the often-sedate five-day format

England allrounder Ben Stokes announced an “indefinite break from all forms of cricket” with an immediate effect. It means that the allrounder will not be available for the home series against India starting next week.  England and Wales Cricket Board released a statement about the same on Friday. “Stokes wants to prioritize his mental wellbeing and to rest his left index finger, which has not fully healed since his return to competitive cricket earlier this month,” the statement reads. “The ECB fully supports Ben’s decision, and we will continue to help him during this period away from the game.” Stokes broke the finger in the Indian Premier League in April and returned home for an operation. It also ruled him out of England’s test series against New Zealand in June and the following limited-overs series against Sri Lanka. But when the England squad had to isolate because of a virus outbreak, Stokes accepted an emergency call to captain England in a one-day international series against Pakistan this month. After winning the series, he stepped back from England duty again. Read: Ben Stokes fined, given demerit point for swearing at fan But when the England squad had to isolate because of a virus outbreak, Stokes accepted an emergency call to captain England in a one-day international series against Pakistan this month. After winning the series, he stepped back from England duty again. “Ben has shown tremendous courage to open up about his feelings and wellbeing,” ECB managing director of men’s cricket Ashley Giles said in a statement. “Our primary focus has always been and will continue to be, the mental health and welfare of all of our people. The demands on our athletes to prepare and play elite sport are relentless in a typical environment, but the ongoing pandemic has acutely compounded this,” he added. He also said that Stokes can take as much time as he needs. Stokes will be replaced in the squad by Somerset’s Craig Overton. Read: Ben Stokes nominated for New Zealander of the Year The 30-year old left-handed batsman and right-handed fast bowler represented England in 101 ODIs, 71 Tests and 34 T20Is. He was England’s main weapon to win the World Cup 2019 at home. Stokes has 13 centuries and 45 half-centuries in international cricket with 256 wickets. 

 

England vice captain Ben Stokes was fined and given a demerit point on Saturday for swearing at a fan as he walked off the field after getting out during the final cricket test against South Africa.

Star England allrounder Ben Stokes has apologized for swearing at a cricket fan while leaving the field after being dismissed on the opening day of the series-deciding final test against South Africa on Friday.

England broke South Africa's resistance in the final session of the second test on Tuesday to win in Cape Town for the first time in 63 years and level the series 1-1 with two matches to play.

Wellington, Jul 19 (AP/UNB) — Allrounder Ben Stokes, who guided England to victory over New Zealand in the final of the cricket World Cup, has been nominated as New Zealander of the Year.