Stokes determined to give his hundred percent as England begin Ashes preparations

England's red-ball format captain Ben Stokes is looking forward to giving his hundred percent for his team in the upcoming Ashes. 

Stokes last featured in a Test series against New Zealand in February earlir this year. Stokes, who suffered knee injury, managed to bowl only nine overs in the two tests against the Kiwis. 

"My knee is in a much better place than it was in Wellington," Stokes told reporters at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

"I have got myself into a position where I am not able to look back and regret or say I have not given myself the best opportunity to play a full role with the ball this summer," he added. 

During this year's Indian Premier League (IPL), Stokes could only play two games for his team Chennai Super Kings (CSK) due to continuous niggling issues. 

"I have got myself into a place where I feel like I am back at 2019, 2020 with my body. Hopefully, I can turn up every day and bowl like I was able to do before this little niggle," he said. "We know what the problem is and it's about managing it with workload and the medical team, just to get through it," he added. 

Before the Ashes, England will play one-off Test against Ireland from tomorrow. The Ashes will start on June 16. 

SQUADS

England: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume, Tom Mayes, Andrew McBrine, James McCollum, PJ Moor, Conor Olphert, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.

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