Ben Stokes agrees to 2-year deal from England Cricket Board: Reports

England captain Ben Stokes has reportedly signed a fresh two-year contract, having rejected a multi-year deal when the board offered him one last year. The ace all-rounder had only penned down a one-year deal on the previous occasion.

On Saturday (October 5), as per BBC Sport, Stokes confirmed his new deal that will take him through 2026, including the away Ashes series in Australia, beginning late next year. A total of 18 players signed multi-year deals 12 months ago, so they remain under contract. The purpose of introducing multi-year contracts from ECB is to mainly fend off interest from the franchise leagues.

Of the seven players who had signed a 12-month deal, James Anderson, Dawid Malan, and Moeen Ali have retired. Ollie Robinson and Ben Foakes have been left out. Keeper-batter Jamie Smith and off-spinner Shoaib Bashir are in line for contracts after becoming regulars in the red-ball side. While Jonny Bairstow has a year left in his deal, he hasn't played for England since the T20 World Cup.

Ben Stokes to miss the first Test against Pakistan in Multan

Meanwhile, the 33-year-old has been ruled out of the opening Test against Pakistan in Multan, beginning on October 7 as he continues to recover from his hamstring injury. Reacting to his injury, the seam-bowling all-rounder told the aforementioned publication:

"I tried my hardest to get myself fit for this game, but have taken the call to miss this one because I've not quite managed to get game-ready. There is a lot that has to go into my rehab programme. We got to a certain point, but looking at the picture of what we've got coming up and physically where I'm at, I'm not quite ready to play.

"It's always frustrating to miss out. I've got some good things to focus on, so even though I'm not playing I've got a goal in mind."

Ollie Pope will captain England in the opening Test in Multan.