Ben Stokes has opened up on the horrific facial injury he suffered in the nets, admitting he is lucky to be alive.
Stokes was struck in the face with a cricket ball and suffered a broken cheekbone while training with Durham in February.
He underwent facial surgery and is still waiting to make his return to competitive cricket. He is not due to play again until early next month, when Durham play Worcestershire in a four-day game starting on May 8.
“It was a pretty scary situation,” he said in an interview on the ECB’s website. “I copped one straight in the face. Just a couple of inches one way or the other, I might not be here doing this interview if I didn’t turn my head round.
“It was a bit of a mess. I’ve got out quite lucky. Thankfully I’m still here and everything’s all right. Obviously it set everything back about a month, five weeks, with getting back to where I wanted to be to play at the start of the season for Durham, but just had to sort of quickly go back to the drawing board and put a plan together to get me ready to play a couple of games for Durham before the Test summer starts.”
He posted photographs on social media of his bruised and swollen face following the operation.