England Test captain Ben Stokes is not expected to play in the early rounds of the County Championship as he battles to be fit to lead England, his Durham coach Ryan Campbell said on Monday. Advertisment The 33-year-old is recovering from hamstring surgery after breaking down in New Zealand in December, his second hamstring tear in five months. But the all-rounder is not yet ready for action in the four-day domestic championship, which starts on Friday. England captain Ben Stokes continuing his rehab at Chester-le-Street.More hard yards as he recovers from hamstring surgery ahead of a big summer. pic.twitter.com/WuTLO0ciyk — Rory Dollard (@thervd) March 31, 2025 Also read | ECB contemplates retiring MAK Pataudi Trophy ahead of India-England Tests AdvertismentEngland host Zimbabwe in May, with a five-Test series against India to follow. Later in the year they head to Australia for a five-match Ashes series. Durham have six matches in the top tier of the County Championship before the Zimbabwe Test. Campbell, who is also without England quicks Brydon Carse (toe) and Mark Wood (knee), made it clear no risks would be taken. Advertisment "When you look at Carse, Stokes and Wood, at this stage they're probably not likely to play for us. My expectation is that it'll be zero -- anything else is an added bonus," he said. "They're all coming back from serious injuries. The facts are that they need to get up and running by the time the Test matches start. "But what we know about Stokesy is that he's here nearly every single day working his butt off. The guy had hamstring surgery and was in the next day lifting weights, which I couldn't believe. He sets the bar, wherever he is." Also read | As if one was not enough, England legend Andrew Flintoff"s other son, Corey, set for top-flight cricket Campbell has pledged to protect Carse, 29, who has impressed since making his Test debut against Pakistan in October 2024, taking 27 wickets at an average of 19.85 in five matches. "I think Brydon Carse is probably the number one priority for England right now," he said. "With what he's shown in Test cricket, he's born for that sort of stuff. There's 11 Tests over the summer and winter, and I think he's going to be number one on England's list to make sure that he's ready to go for that. "Does that mean he's going to play for us? I'm not so sure.... We've known about his foot problems for a year now. It's not new, but he needs to get it right if he's going to be playing a lot of Test cricket." Disclaimer: This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits to adhere to WION's style guide. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION audience.