Ben Stokes is on track to recover from his hamstring injury in time to play a full role as an allrounder in England's Test series against Pakistan in October.
Stokes tore his left hamstring two-and-a-half weeks ago while playing for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred. He was ruled out for the rest of the summer but has been with the England squad during their ongoing series against Sri Lanka, and has been batting in the nets at Lord's ahead of Thursday's second Test.
England are due to arrive in Pakistan on October 2 ahead of the first Test five days later, which is scheduled for Multan. They won 3-0 on their most recent tour there in 2022, with Stokes only bowling 35 overs in the series as he managed a chronic knee injury. A return to full fitness ahead of this tour would be a significant boost to their chances.
Stokes described his return as "scratching an itch" on Tuesday. "I'm all good, just slowly progressing," he said in an ECB video. "It's still very early days in the rehab period… I want to get back as quick as I possibly can, so being around the medical team here with physio and doctors, I thought that was going to give myself the best chance of getting back sooner rather than later."
Ollie Pope, England's stand-in captain, believes that Stokes will be "as fresh as anyone" heading into their winter tours to Pakistan and New Zealand. "He's obviously still a fair while away off playing, and he's not trying to play as a batter and a first slip - just yet, anyway. But it's been great to see him.
"Injuries are never ideal, but they're also great chances for people to keep improving their game and have a little bit of time of reflection and think about what he can work on in his game. I'm sure that's exactly what he's doing in the nets. Going into that Pakistan series and then into New Zealand, he's going to be as fresh as anyone."
Zak Crawley, who is also missing the Sri Lanka series, came to Lord's on Tuesday with his broken little finger in a split. Like Stokes, he is targeting a return for October's tour to Pakistan, though will not be able to resume batting until later next month. "It's great to have those guys around," Pope said.
"I know [Crawley] is gutted he's not here playing in these Test matches, but for him to pop in and catch up with the guys is great and it shows where we're at as a squad, and how we're a tight-knit unit. We want to keep driving that forwards because I think that helps us on the pitch as well."
Mark Wood is also out of this series injured, and has been replaced in England's XI by Olly Stone for the second Test at Lord's. Pope played with Stone at London Spirit in the Hundred this year, and believes that he will be able to replicate Wood's impact as a high-pace bowler - even if he may not touch Wood's top speeds.
"He's obviously had a tough time, and has injuries that unfortunately fast bowlers can just get, especially when they bowl up to 90mph. I'm really excited for Olly to get the opportunity to pull that shirt back on. I know how hard he's worked and I know how hard it is being injured for such a long period of time."
Stokes described Pope as moving into his interim role "seamlessly" and said that he had enjoyed watching from the dressing-room in Manchester. "I was actually pretty relaxed and pretty chilled," he said. "I thought I might be a little bit frantic… When you don't have the emotion of being in the game, you do look at it from a different point of view."