Ben Stokes declares he's ready for England return after hamstring surgery

Ben Stokes has declared himself "very, very confident" that he can play a full role as an allrounder in England's Tests against Zimbabwe and India this summer. Stokes has spent the last five months recovering from a hamstring tear after rushing back from the same injury last year, but believes he has handled his rehabilitation "a lot better" this time around.

Stokes sustained his original injury during the Hundred last August, and though he returned to action in time for England's Test series against Pakistan in October, he suffered a recurrence while bowling in New Zealand two months later. He has taken a cautious approach to his recovery since, ahead of legacy-defining series against India (at home) and Australia (away) this year.

"I feel great," Stokes told Nasser Hussain in an interview for Sky Sports. "Training and playing are completely different: no matter what you do at training, you just cannot replicate the intensity that your body is put through in a game… As excited as I am to get back on the field, I do know that it is going to be completely different to what I've been doing in my training.

"But in terms of my role as a player, [being] that fourth seamer, batting at No. 6, and trying to dominate every situation that I find myself in, whether I've got the bat in my hand or the ball in my hand, is what I want to get back into doing out on the field, and trying to do it on the biggest stage. I know I've done it before, and it's something that I'm very, very confident in myself that I can do."

Stokes felt the need to "fast-track" his return last year, and later acknowledged he had "ruined" himself in the process. "This time around, the medical team and myself were like, 'We're just going to absolutely nail it this time,'" he said. "It was a slow and long process, particularly the first two months… [But] it's not been anywhere near as taxing, physically or mentally."

He also revealed discussions with coach Brendon McCullum around ensuring he does not push himself too hard. "We've spoken about this kind of stuff together, how he's going to help me better, how he's going to speak to me a lot more around that kind of stuff… I'm 33, and I don't want to expose myself to being in a situation where I'm off the field when I don't have to be."

England's attitude to training has been questioned this year, most notably during their white-ball tour to India. Rob Key, their managing director, subsequently said that the perception of a relaxed, carefree environment was England's "own fault" but Stokes defended his team's "incredible" work ethic and conceded that he is frustrated by their reputation.

"When you hear comments saying that we don't train hard enough, we're more bothered about golf, we don't work hard enough, it's just complete and utter [rubbish]," he said. "You're not going to be able to be an international sportsman for a long period of time if you don't have a work ethic. Everyone who walks into the Test team, into the white-ball team, their work ethic is incredible.

"There is a reason to everything that we do, because we feel it helps players, it helps the team, but it also is a way of taking the pressure of what we do off us, without adding more to it. There's enough pressure on the shoulders of everyone who walks out there with the three lions on their chest, and what we try and do is take any extra, added pressure off the shoulders of people."

Stokes was briefly considered as a stop-gap candidate to captain England's ODI team after Jos Buttler's resignation after the Champions Trophy, but suggested that it would not have made sense to add to his workload in such a busy year. "The decision that they've made there, of making Harry Brook [captain], is 100% the right one," Stokes said.

He is not part of the white-ball squads for Brook's first assignments against West Indies, but has not officially retired from either format. "If I do play more white-ball cricket for England, then great," Stokes said. "But if I don't, then I'm going to sit back and watch the incredible talent that England has go and put on a show, and hopefully win more World Cups in the future."

England have been training at Loughborough this week ahead of their first Test of the summer against Zimbabwe on May 22. "Zimbabwe have got some seriously experienced cricketers," Stokes said. "They'll be desperate to come to England and turn us over, and what I can say is that I'm absolutely desperate for us to show that we are the better team on those four days."

Though he is set to go into that match without any meaningful middle practice, Stokes is also set to play one of England Lions' fixtures against India A, following the Zimbabwe Test, as he prepares for the start of the India series on June 20. "Physically, it's going to be tough, but mentally, throughout that whole series, it's going to be a tough, draining series," he said. "It always is against India: five Test matches is incredibly hard."