England's Ben Stokes facing knee operation that will keep him out for six weeks

All-rounder aiming to be back in time for the Pakistan series

Ben Stokes will go under the knife in the coming days after hurting his knee playing against Sri Lanka (Getty)

England’s summer got off to the sunniest of starts in Leeds but a cloud has gathered in the form of Ben Stokes’ knee injury that will keep him out of action for around six weeks.

The all-rounder will undergo a minor operation on cartilage in his left knee in the coming days that will see him miss the entire Test series against Sri Lanka and the limited overs fun and games that follow. The Durham man will be aiming for a return to action in time for the arrival of Pakistan.

Chris Woakes, the Warwickshire all-rounder, has been called up to the England squad for the second Test which starts at Durham - Stokes’ home ground - on Friday. Stokes will miss the two remaining Tests, five ODIs and the Twenty20 against Sri Lanka but will hope to be fit for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s on 14 July.

Stokes, who will see a consultant on Tuesday to assess the full damage to his knee, picked up the injury while bowling against Sri Lanka at Headingley and tried to play through the pain but to no avail. England barely missed him, wrapping up victory inside three days by an innings and 88 runs.

All-rounder Woakes, who returned the amazing figures of 9 for 36 against Durham on Monday, is the most like-for-like replacement in the England set-up and will in all likelihood fill in for Stokes, leaving Jake Ball, 12th man at Headingley, to miss out again. Woakes, 27, has yet to convince in his stop-start England career. He has played six Tests and taken eight wickets at an average of 64. His batting average is 21 with a high score of 26. He will now have another opportunity to impress.