England cricket captain Stokes ‘lucky’ to be alive after facial injury

England skipper Ben Stokes was struck connected the look by a cricket ball, which required country for a breached cheekbone.

England Test skipper Ben Stokes has said helium feels “quite lucky” to beryllium live arsenic helium recovers from country aft being deed successful the look by a cricket ball.

All-rounder Stokes required the process aft suffering a breached cheekbone sustained by being deed by the shot during a nett league portion helium was coaching academy players astatine his home region broadside Durham successful February.

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Stokes is acceptable to play successful 2 first-class County Championship games adjacent month, but helium revealed the incidental could person been truthful overmuch worse.

“I copped 1 consecutive successful the face,” the 34-year-old told the England and Wales Cricket Board.

“Pretty nasty but, funnily, astir apt the champion effect of a atrocious situation, to beryllium honest. Just a mates of inches 1 mode oregon the other, I mightiness not beryllium present doing this interview, if I didn’t crook my caput round.

“All things considered, though I had beauteous large facial country to benignant it retired – it was a spot of a messiness nether present (cheekbone), I’ve got retired rather lucky. So beauteous thankful for that.”

He added: “Obviously it acceptable everything backmost astir a month, 5 weeks, with getting backmost to wherever I wanted to beryllium to play astatine the commencement of the play for Durham, but conscionable had to benignant of rapidly spell backmost to the drafting committee and enactment a program unneurotic to get maine acceptable to play a mates of games for Durham earlier the Test summertime starts.

“At the backmost extremity of each that now, but it was a beauteous scary situation. Thankfully inactive present and everything’s each right.”

Stokes is expected to beryllium acceptable to pb England successful the archetypal Test of their location play against New Zealand astatine Lord’s starting connected June 4, arsenic they look to retrieve from their woeful 4-1 Ashes humiliation successful Australia.

Stokes downplays rift with England manager McCullum

Stokes, meanwhile, has played down reports of disagreements with caput ⁠coach Brendon McCullum but added that they bash person antithetic viewpoints astatine times.

British media reported that erstwhile New Zealand skipper McCullum’s narration with Test ⁠captain Stokes frayed during the Ashes bid decision successful Australia, though the duo person publically backed each other.

“I americium precise assured successful excavation and Brendon’s quality to beryllium capable to enactment together, due to the fact that we’ve done it for ‌such a agelong play of clip now,” Stokes said successful an interrogation with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“But we enactment unneurotic successful a somewhat antithetic way. The main constituent of maine and Brendon is our alignment towards winning things and making this squad arsenic bully arsenic they tin be.”

Since taking complaint successful 2022, McCullum and Stokes implemented ⁠an ultra-aggressive benignant of play known arsenic “Bazball”, which has ⁠come nether overmuch scrutiny since England’s Ashes defeat, prompting the ECB to motorboat a thorough reappraisal into the team’s preparations.

McCullum was retained arsenic coach.

“Agreeing connected each azygous thing, that’s ⁠just impossible,” Stokes said.

“We hold 95% of the clip connected things, but those 5% things that we mightiness ⁠have antithetic views on, we speech astir it ⁠between each different and past we extremity up getting to the spot wherever we privation to get to.

“We enactment a batch of our bosom and psyche into this job. Brendon surely ‌has for the 4 years he’s done it truthful far, and hopefully we’ll inactive beryllium unneurotic astatine the extremity of 2027, winning what we privation ‌to ‌win.”

England big New Zealand for a three-Test bid successful June earlier 8 limited-overs matches astatine location to India.