Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test against England

England captain Ben Stokes said Saturday he will miss the first Test against Pakistan starting next week, after failing to recover from a hamstring injury.

The 33-year-old Stokes has been out since the start of August with a hamstring tear suffered during The Hundred, missing his team’s 2-1 home Test series win against Sri Lanka last month.

Top-order batter Ollie Pope, who led the side against Sri Lanka, will stand in again for the first of three matches starting in Multan on Monday.