Rusty Stokes confident about peak fitness
Ben Stokes appeared upbeat about his personal fitness © Getty With England's gruelling home summer set to start with the one-off Test against Ireland on Thursday (June 1), red-ball captain Ben Stokes' return to competitive cricket has been among the major talking points for the home side. With a recurring knee injury hounding him, Stokes' bowling role has come under the cloud but he appeared upbeat about his personal fitness. "I have worked incredibly hard with the medical team in Chennai, who were liasing with the ECB guys, and got myself into a place where I feel like I am back at 2019, 2020 space in terms of my own body and fitness," said Stokes. "I have definitely given myself the best opportunity, but the mind and body are different things. But yeah, I have given myself the best chance." The talismanic all-rounder played very little part in the just concluded Indian Premier League where he featured in just two games for eventual champions Chennai ...