Ben Stokes did not care about his injury-ravaged body while bowling those difference-making overs for England over the course of the first four Tests but he says the risk is far too high to go out one last time in the series.

Stokes, the leading wicket-taker of the series with 17 scalps, will be a mere spectator at The Oval, robbing the series finale of his charismatic on-field presence.

No Jofra Archer, and possibly no Jasprit Bumrah in the opposition, also takes sheen off what has been a riveting series.