Stokes out for three months with torn hamstring
· BBC SportJack Skelton
BBC Sport Senior Journalist
England Test captain Ben Stokes requires surgery on a torn left hamstring and has been ruled out of all cricket for at least three months.
Stokes, 33, suffered the injury while bowling on day three of the third Test against New Zealand earlier this month.
It is the second time Stokes has torn his left hamstring this year, having sustained the same injury while playing in The Hundred in August.
England said Durham all-rounder Stokes will have surgery in January.
"Something else to overcome - go on then," Stokes posted on X., external
"I've got so much more left in this tank and so much more blood sweat and tears to go through for my team and this shirt.
"There's a reason I have a phoenix permanently inked on my body."
Stokes was not included in England's squads for the white-ball tour of India and the Champions Trophy in January and February because of the injury.
He had been set to play for MI Cape Town in the SA20, South Africa's franchise T20 league, in January but will now miss the tournament.
England's next Test is not until they face Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge in May.
Stokes will be aiming to be fit again for the first round of the County Championship, with Durham facing Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on 4 April, though that will depend on his recovery from surgery.
Stokes opted out of entering the auction for the 2025 Indian Premier League, which takes place from March to May, in order to prolong his England career.
Stokes bowled 36.2 overs in the third-Test defeat in Hamilton, his most in a single match since June 2022.
The 66.1 overs he bowled in the series, which England won 2-1, were his most as captain.
England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said they may have to manage Stokes' bowling workload after he injured his hamstring again but Stokes said he will not be "holding back" with his bowling once he returns from this latest setback.
Stokes had surgery on a long-term left knee problem a year ago after it had hampered his bowling throughout 2023.
He missed three Tests against Sri Lanka at home this year and one in Pakistan after tearing his hamstring playing for Northern Superchargers.
Stokes admitted the effort to get fit for the final two Tests in Pakistan took a mental toll, but looked to be getting back to his best in New Zealand before suffering a recurrence of the hamstring injury.
England's Test side face a crucial year in 2025, with five Tests at home against India in the summer before they attempt to regain the Ashes in Australia in the winter.