"F**k off Stuart" - Ben Stokes' response to ex-England teammate over 'dodgy knee' after match-winning spell for Durham against Somerset

England Test captain Ben Stokes playfully hit back at Stuart Broad for calling his knee dodgy amid his match-winning spell for Durham against Somerset in the County Championship 2024 divison 1 on Saturday (May 25). The seam-bowling all-rounder was replying to Broad's tweet.

Stokes suffered a knee injury at the start of 2023 for which he also underwent surgery earlier this year before the Test tour of India. The 32-year-old didn't bowl during the five-Test series until the final game in Dharamsala.

Meanwhile, Broad commented on the ESPN Cricinfo video:

"Hi Ben. Love you & you have a heart of a lion. Please stop bowling 10 overs spells with a dodgy knee…"

The England Test captain hit back:

"F**k off Stuart what dodgy knee."

Meanwhile, the star all-rounder also took four scalps in the first innings, bowling Somerset out for 171. However, the left-hander registered a six-ball duck in Durham's first-innings total of 265, with Somerset managing only 88 after batting second.

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Ben Stokes opted out of T20 World Cup 2024 to be in full fitness for the summer

Ben Stokes opted out of T20 World Cup 2024 selection in April, citing the need to bowl regularly in the Test matches during the home summer. He issued a statement, as quoted by ecb.co.uk:

"I’m working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an all-rounder in all formats of cricket. Opting out of the IPL and the World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future."

The seam-bowling all-rounder was instrumental in England's T20 World Cup 2022 final, hitting an unbeaten 52 in the final against Pakistan to help them seal a five-wicket victory.

In the process, England became only the second team, after the West Indies, in T20 World Cup history to lift the trophy twice.