England Test captain Ben Stokes has suffered a severe facial injury after being struck by a cricket ball.
The 34-year-old all-rounder posted a picture on Instagram showing his right eye heavily swollen and bruised, a graze on his cheek and lip, and a bandage stuffed in his nose.
“You should see the state of the cricket ball,” read Stokes’ caption of the picture, alongside a laughing face emoji.
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Stokes is back in England following a woeful Ashes tour, which ended with a 4-1 series loss to Australia last month.
Although Stokes has made it clear he wants to continue to captain the red-ball side, his position remains uncertain amid an England and Wales Cricket Board review.
England coach Brendon McCullum has labelled some of the ensuing fallout from the Ashes “out of order”.
Stokes is no longer a member of England’s white-ball set-up and won’t feature in the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka that starts this weekend.
He could next play for Durham in the early rounds of the County Championship before England begin their home Test season against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4 — Stokes’s 35th birthday.
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Stokes is currently recovering from an adductor injury suffered during the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January.
The injury prevented him from bowling in Australia’s second innings and completed a frustrating tour for the England skipper, who bowled well throughout the series but struggled with the bat.
Stokes’ groin problem is the latest of several injuries that have blighted his career.
In 2024, he tore his hamstring twice and he finished last season’s home series against India on the sidelines due to a shoulder problem, having undergone an operation in late 2023 to deal with knee issues.
Stokes is contracted by England until the end of the 2027 home season summer and he may now avoid entering next month’s auction for the Hundred, leaving him free to focus on the Test team.