Stokes in fitness battle for first Pakistan Test as hungry Crawley returns | Pakistan vs England 2024

Zak Crawley declared he was fully fit and “back with renewed hunger” after missing the second half of England's Test summer with a broken finger, but Ben Stokes has recovered from the hamstring tear that forced him to miss the series against him Sri Lanka are less certain as the captain only briefly took part in the team's first training session in Pakistan.

Crawley said Stokes “seems to be running well and recovering well” but “we don't know yet” whether he will be able to take part in the opening game of the series, which begins in Multan on Monday. “I think he needs to do a few more tests,” the opener added. The last official update on his injury came 10 days ago, when a carefully worded statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board said he was “on track to take part in the upcoming Test series against Pakistan”.

After watching the first hour of training from England's balcony, Stokes emerged to throw about a dozen throws from a two-step run-up into an empty net, do some running drills and spend perhaps half an hour batting. At this stage it seems unlikely he will bowl and with the team being named on Saturday he has less than 24 hours to prove he is fit to play. If required, Ollie Pope is available to fill the role of stand-in captain, which he played against Sri Lanka.

Although Crawley was unable to pick up a bat until mid-September, England were confident in his ability to return to the top of the batting order and omitted Dan Lawrence, who replaced him against Sri Lanka, from that squad. “At this point it's as good as it could be,” Crawley said of his injury, a fracture of the little finger on his right hand that he suffered while slipping against West Indies in July.

As a precautionary measure he will not return to the fence for the time being, but he did complete one-on-one catching training with Brendon McCullum on Friday. “It was a bad break back then but I have recovered well and don't feel it at all while batting,” he said. “I didn’t do too much on the field. I’m trying to rest it.”

Crawley spent most of his time outside the game watching the game on television and has returned from his spell on the sidelines with renewed motivation. “It shows how much this means to me and how much I love playing for England,” he said. “I definitely came back hungry again. I feel like I have a lot of energy. Nobody wants a break and I wouldn’t do it again, but I certainly took some positive things out of it.”

That energy is likely to be tested as Multan on Friday presented an extraordinary contrast to the rain-soaked, cold conditions in which England's home summer ended in Bristol five days earlier: the only downpours came here as batsmen sweated from their helmets They emerged from the nets. “It's hot, but it's a lot harder in training than in games,” Crawley said. “You hit a ball every 15 seconds, that's the main reason we sweat so much. In a game where it happens every 45 seconds, it's much easier to control. We’ve all played in this kind of heat before, so it’s nothing to worry about.”

The advantage is, as Crawley said: “The reverse swing should be easy with the sweat.” The 26-year-old also saw the decision to play the first two games in Multan as a result of the delayed renovation work on the stadium in Karachi, where the second was originally played Game was planned, positive. “It’s great because we’re staying in a really good hotel,” he said. “Snooker tables, billiards, golf courses, the people are so nice and welcoming. The boys are very happy.”