Ben Stokes, England’s red-ball captain has been ruled out of the entire English Summer after suffering a hamstring tear while playing in the Hundred. Stokes was featuring for the Northern Superchargers on Sunday where he tore his hamstring and had to be carried out by people around.

A scan discovered the extent of the damage on Tuesday. As a result, Stokes will not be able to participate in the forthcoming three-match Test series against Sri Lanka, which gets underway in Manchester on August 21. Thus, Ollie Pope, who served as Stokes’ deputy for more than a year, will take on the full captaincy responsibilities for the series.

“As a result of the scans conducted in Leeds on Tuesday, Stokes will miss England’s three-match Test series against Sri Lanka,” the England and Wales Cricket Board announced in a release on Tuesday (August 13).

In a statement, the ECB stated that Stokes hopes to be back for England’s winter Test series against Pakistan, which begins on October 7 in Multan. Zak Crawley, who is sidelined for the Sri Lanka series due to a finger injury, plans to return for the Pakistan tour as well.

No replacement has been named for the English skipper for the Sri Lanka series. Jordan Cox can come into the eleven in place of Stokes and can fit in at the No.6 spot. As an alternative, they could select Matthew Potts or Olly Stone as a seamer and move Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes up to No. 6 and 7, respectively, to alter the lineup’s balance.

England are scheduled to play a 3-match test series against Sri Lanka starting on Aug 21 at the Old Trafford in Manchester. The caravan will then move on to London, where the next two games will take place at the Lord’s and Kennington Oval respectively.