England fast bowler James Anderson has said that all-rounder Ben Stokes’ absence for the third Test at Edgbaston against Pakistan will be a big loss for his team.
Ben Stokes, who was making a comeback to the side after missing three Tests with an injury to his left knee, was ruled out of the third Test after he suffered a grade two calf tear on the final day of the win at Old Trafford last week.
“It was really positive the way we came out of that Old Trafford Test, unfortunate that we lost Ben Stokes in that game to injury but, all in all, just a really strong team performance,” Anderson said.
“He’s a big loss, he just adds that balance to the team.
“He can come in at six and him being able to bowl plenty of overs does add that healthy balance to the side.
“But we’ve played without him before and coped without him before so we’re going to have to do that this week. Hopefully, he’ll be well on the road to recovery and play at the Oval.”
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After losing the first Test at Lord’s by 75 runs, the hosts made a remarkable comeback by defeating Pakistan by a huge margin of 330 runs to level the four-match Test series at 1-1. England’s highest wicket-taker in Tests believes that the win in the second Test can act as a springboard to help them perform better in the series.
“The batsmen talked about, before the game, showing the character they’ve got and what they are made of and their skills, which they completely did, led by Joe Root and Cooky [Alastair Cook],” Anderson said.
“It was just a really strong performance and something that we can hopefully build on in the coming weeks,” he added.
The third Test will start from August 3.