Ben Stokes is highly likely to make his eagerly-anticipated return to The Hundred as the star allrounder is understood to be available for Northern Superchargers to feature in the second half of the group stage.
As per a report by ESPNcricinfo, Stokes has been made available by England Cricket and will return to Superchargers for the first time since the inaugural edition.
The England red-ball captain played two games for Superchargers in 2021 and if things go as per plan he will reunite with former England allrounder Andrew Flintoff who is the head coach of the side.
Notably, The Hundred 2024 gets underway with a clash between Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix at The Oval on July 23. England’s premier 100-ball tournament will be without its star attraction initially as the English men’s team is currently rubbing shoulders with West Indies in a three-match series and a lot of its overseas players are presently lighting up stadiums in the USA with the Major League Cricket running full throttle.
England look to realise life after James Anderson
The Three Lions said goodbye to their most prolific wicket-taker in the red-ball format after a commanding win over West Indies in the first Test of the summer at Lord’s.
Anderson’s retirement has left a huge void in the English dressing room and Stokes alongside Brendon McCullum will have to replug it soon.
The 41-year-old pacer will continue to travel with the team for the rest of the games scheduled to be played in the ongoing summer. Tearaway pacer Mark Wood has come in for Anderson as England aim to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
England’s playing XI:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir