Ben Stokes: England captain vows to be fitter than before on return from hamstring surgery

14 May 2025, 11:21 | Updated: 15 May 2025, 10:14

England captain Ben Stokes has defended his team-mates against criticism of their preparation.

Bowler Mark Wood told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast last month he felt "uncomfortable" at recent criticism over their training methods from former professionals - particularly that levelled during the white-ball tour of India earlier this year when England were beaten 7-1 across both formats.

And, speaking to Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain in an interview to be shown in full at 7pm on Sky Sports Cricket, Test skipper Stokes said: "When you hear comments saying we don't train hard enough, we're more bothered about golf, we don't work hard enough it's just complete and utter [rubbish].

"You're not going to be able to be an international sportsman for a long period of time if you don't have a work ethic and everyone that walks into the Test team, the white-ball team, their work ethic is incredible.

"They're professional athletes, it's their job."

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