Ben Stokes won't bowl at The Oval, opens up on long-term solution to pro-long Test career

England Test captain Ben Stokes is aware that the time has come to have "serious conversations" about surgery on his troublesome left knee.

In a pre-match conference, ahead of the fifth and final Ashes Test, Stokes opened up on how he had been managing a chronic injury in the past year. Stokes spent the eve of the fifth Test bowling off-spin in the nets since he was unable to bowl fast.

Ben Stokes will not bowl in 5th Test

Ever since Stokes forced himself to bowl a 12-over marathon spell in the second Test at Lord's, the English skipper has now bowled again in the ongoing five-match series. Having batted over five hours across the fourth and fifth days during his knock of 155, Stokes knew he had completely spent himself physically. When the third Test came at Headingley, the all-rounder finally knew he was no longer able to fulfill his duties with both bat and ball.

As a result, England played Stokes as a sole batter in Leeds, while bringing in two all-rounders Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali. The move worked well for the hosts as they won the third Test, only to be left disappointed when the weather played spoilsport in the fourth game. A rain-marred Manchester Test ended in a draw, which saw the Aussies retain the Ashes.

Stokes will not be bowling at The Oval this week, not even some off-breaks. Once the series comes to an end, the England captain will sit with his medical team to discuss how to go about his long-term future. He has been struggling with a chronic injury on his left knee and has time and again refused to accept it publicly.

Stokes admits he needs surgery

However, the 32-year-old cricketer finally on Wednesday said he may now have to consider getting his knee operated on.

"It's something I obviously want to get sorted. The times in which I've seen specialists and stuff like that there has been cricket around. So, as it's been manageable, we've just cracked on.

"But I think that is a good time to have some serious conversations with medics around what is potentially something I could do to get a role in which I can bowl without having to worry about my knee. Those are conversations we will be able to have in that time off," Stokes told reporters ahead of the fifth Ashes Test.

Adding further, Stokes admitted that it has been "frustrating" over the last couple of years as he has been unable to have the same impact as an all-rounder that he has done across the last decade.

England's wait to win the Ashes continues with them last winning the Urn in 2015.

Meanwhile, Stokes said he was looking forward to being involved when England head "Down Under" for the next edition.

"It'd be nice to go out to Australia in 2025 and have a good chance of winning. How this series has gone and how close we were, it does make you think when we next go to Australia 'do we have a better chance than the last few times?'

"The Ashes is such an important series for English and Australian cricket and it would be nice to say I've won it twice," added Stokes.

Stokes to take a break after Ashes

Stokes, who is four Tests away from completing a century in the longest format of the game, has scored 6,072 runs, including 13 hundreds. He needs just three more wickets to touch the 200-wicket mark, but that will have to wait as he won't be bowling in the Oval Test, which is due to begin on Thursday in London.

It is not surprising that Stokes won't feature for Northern Superchargers in the first weeks of the Hundred, which starts the day after the scheduled fifth day of this Oval Test. "I'm going on holiday after this game. That's as far as I'm thinking," said Stokes.