'Not once': Mark Wood explains why England players not thinking about Ben Stokes' return

England bowler Mark Wood has stated that the prospect of Ben Stokes returning to the national team has never crossed his teammates' minds because as of now, they are solely focused on his recovery. Earlier this year, Ben Stokes took an indefinite break from cricket to take care of his mental health. The star all-rounder also withdrew his name from the upcoming T20 World Cup and the subsequent Ashes series. However, Stokes shared a video on his social media handle of his return to the training after successful finger surgery, creating buzz around his potential comeback for the Test series against Australia.  

Mark Wood on Saturday said that England players are not thinking about Stokes' potential return to the national side and are only concerned about his mental wellbeing. Wood said every member of the England squad just wants Stokes to recover quickly and feel right and happy. 

"Not once among any of the players has Stokesy been mentioned. The one thing at the forefront of everyone’s minds is they just want him to be all right. No one wants to even think past that. We just want him to be himself and feel right and happy and stuff like that. So not once has it crossed anyone’s mind about the Ashes," Wood was quoted as saying by The Guardian. 

Ever since taking a break due to mental health issues, Ben Stokes has missed the important home series against India, a bilateral clash against Sri Lanka, and also a Test series against New Zealand. Back in April Ben Stokes suffered an injury while playing for Rajasthan Royals in their opening match against Punjab Kings in IPL. Stokes after which was ruled out of IPL 2021. The all-rounder last donned the England jersey during the ODI series against Pakistan in July. Post the ODI series, Stokes, made himself unavailable for future selection, citing mental health as the cause.

England in T20 World Cup

As far as England is concerned, the Eoin Morgan-led side will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against defending champions West Indies on October 23. England has been placed in Group 1 of the Super 12 stage alongside Australia, South Africa, and West Indies. Two more teams will join them after the competition of the preliminary round on October 22. 

England's squad for World Cup: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Image: AP