Ben Stokes sits out first Pakistan test as England struggle on Day One

National World - LocalTV

England Test Captain Ben Stokes is to miss the first match against Pakistan as he recovers from injury. His side have made a poor start to the first test in Multan, however.

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00:00England test captain Ben Stokes has said he wasn't quite game ready, as it was confirmed

00:07he would miss the first match against Pakistan in Multan. Stokes has not played cricket since

00:11August when he went off injured in a Northern Superchargers fixture in the 100. Vice-captain

00:16Ollie Pope will skip at the side, as he did briefly in the summer, and hope to get England

00:21off to the best possible start against a side they whitewashed 3-0 in their last tour of

00:25Pakistan in 2022. England, however, have not made the best start at all, only taking

00:31four wickets on day one, and conceding centuries to Abdullah Shafiq and Shan Masood, as Pakistan

00:37reached a total of 328 at the close of play. England will look for improvements on day

00:41two, while Stokes will aim to be fit for the second test, which is also in Multan. He made

00:47clear that he is not sure whether this is a realistic target, but that he is working

00:51hard to be fit in time for the match, which begins on the 15th of October.

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