Ben Stokes signs new Durham contract

His new three-year deal comes with England's talisman having returned to the fold after a prolonged break from the game for mental health reasons and to allow a finger injury to heal

Ben Stokes has signed a contract extension with Durham, keeping the England allrounder at his home county until at least the end of the 2024 season.

More than a decade has passed since Stokes made his professional debut for Durham, batting at No.6 and taking the wicket of Mark Ramprakash in a 50-over win against Surrey.

His new three-year deal comes with England's talisman having returned to the fold after a prolonged break from the game for mental health reasons and to allow a finger injury to heal. He featured in the Ashes opener at Brisbane last week as England fell to a nine-wicket defeat.

Stokes played his first red-ball match for Durham in three years during the summer, taking three wickets against Warwickshire before being called up to England's emergency ODI squad for the series against Pakistan, which prevented him from playing any further part in the game.

He played six times in last season's T20 Blast, though remarkably his last List A appearance for Durham came in the Royal London Cup final seven years ago.

^{Ben Stokes' last List A appearance for Durham came in winning the 2014 Royal London Cup at Lord's (Harry Engels/Getty Images)}

Stokes said: "I am delighted to commit to a further three years with Durham, I have had some fantastic memories playing for the club over the years and I look forward to experiencing more of this in the future."

In 2013, Stokes was part of the side that won Durham's third County Championship title in five years. In all, he has played 64 red-ball games for the club, scoring 3,611 runs in the process, with 62 T20 matches also under his belt.

Marcus North, Durham's director of cricket, added: "Ben is one of the finest players in the world and while we may not see him as much as we would like his influence around the club remains huge.

"It's fantastic to see Ben back fit and well following his time away from the game and now back playing for England in the Ashes."