The defending champions, England, are swearing over the availability of the allrounder, Ben Stokes, ahead of their ICC Cricket World Cup opening game against New Zealand today.

Stokes is struggling with a slight hip niggle and he is in doubt for today’s match in Ahmedabad.

The destructive batter hasn’t played since smashing 182-runs against the Black Caps some three weeks ago.

The player came out of retirement from ODI cricket to compete at the World Cup.

The England captain, Jos Buttler, said they won’t risk playing Stokes if he isn’t fit.

“He's got a slight sort of niggle in his hip, fingers crossed it will be good news for us,” said Buttler.

“We'll make the right call. If he's not fit to play, he's not fit to play, and if he is we can make that decision.

“You don't want to take big risks on someone at the start of the tournament, nearer the end you may need to take more of a risk.

“We all know what a fantastic player he is. The start of an international career that's been outstanding - in T20 cricket and the Test format.

“He's not played loads of ODI cricket, but it's a format that should suit him perfectly. It will allow him to bat for a long time and make big runs and that's something he enjoys doing.

“So, he's got all the shots, you know, from Test cricket, he can play big innings. So, it's a format that should suit him really well.”

Play in Thursday morning’s opening game is scheduled to get underway at 10:30.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport