This summer, Ben Stokes will play in the Hundred for the first time in three years. As far as ESPNcricinfo is aware, he has been cleared by the ECB to play for Northern Superchargers in the second half of the group stage. Andrew Flintoff will serve as his coach.
Despite being chosen in their teams, Stokes has not played for the Superchargers since taking over as England’s Test captain. He made two appearances for them in the Hundred’s first season in 2021. Instead, after struggling with a persistent knee issue that required surgery during the 50-over World Cup last year, he has chosen to take it easy in between Test series.
The morning following his most recent appearance in the competition, which took place at Trent Bridge in July 2021, he passed out on the floor of his hotel restroom due to a major panic attack. It was shown in the Sam Mendes documentary Phoenix from the Ashes, which inspired Stokes to take a protracted hiatus from the game later that year.
However, ESPNcricinfo can disclose that he has been declared available for four group stage games this season—as well as the playoffs, should the Superchargers advance—beginning on August 6 on the road against Birmingham Phoenix. With Flintoff starting his first position as head coach next week, it means that one of England’s greatest all-round players will play under another.
The Hundred begins on Tuesday, July 23, although because of a conflict with the third Test against the West Indies, men’s teams won’t have many well-known players during the first week of play. Additionally, it coincides with the final stages of Major League Cricket, where a number of the top foreign players in the Hundred have been playing for the past two weeks.
After the third Test at Edgbaston, England’s hitters will be free to participate, and for the second half of the group stages, the all-rounders and bowlers in the squad will be available starting on August 6. Mark Wood and Shoaib Bashir are not bound by Hundred contracts, and Dillon Pennington and Matthew Potts’ availability will be contingent upon their possible involvement in Birmingham.
On Thursday, the ECB is expected to confirm several injury replacements. Tash Farrant (Oval Invincibles) and Will Smeed (Phoenix) are both expected to miss the competition owing to hamstring problems. James Neesham (London Spirit) and Riley Meredith (Trent Rockets) have agreed to short-term contracts to fill in for Joe Root and Zak Crawley, respectively.
In other news, New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner will fill in for Daniel Sams at the Superchargers after the latter was ruled out with a knee injury. Tim Southee has replaced Naseem Shah at Phoenix after the PCB refused to grant him a No-Objection Certificate.