England Test captain Ben Stokes looks set to miss the opening month of the County Championship as he continues to recover from facial surgery.
The 34-year-old sustained a broken cheekbone and severe cuts and bruising after being struck by a ball in the nets at Chester-le-Street in February. Although Stokes has called his operation successful, he will not be fit to play Durham’s Division Two opener against Kent on Good Friday.
Durham coach Ryan Campbell said the club are waiting for specialists to clear Stokes. He is also expected to sit out matches against Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Middlesex, with a possible return in May for fixtures against Worcestershire and Kent ahead of England’s first home Test against New Zealand at Lord’s starting June 4.
Campbell said: “He was going to play the first game. He’s been training so hard to be ready but we have to wait for the specialists to clear him. [The injury] was so, so much worse than you’d think. The ball was hit so hard and we are just lucky he got away with it. The initial whack was bad. If it hits him in the eye, it could have been different, could have been horrific. His cheekbone worked the way it is supposed to: it caved in and looked after the rest of him.”
‘Stokes has a lot to prove – he will train his a**e off’
Stokes averaged just 18.40 with the bat as England were beaten 4-1 in the Ashes, and he also suffered a groin injury in the final Test. He has not played since the fifth Test in Sydney in January but was retained as England captain after the tour. In an Instagram post he described the results and fallout as “the hardest period of my captaincy journey.”
Campbell expects Stokes to return with renewed focus. “He has a lot to prove. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know the Ashes didn’t go so well. He is a proud man who wants England to be the best team in the world. I have no doubt the Ashes knocked him for six. He was gutted but now he has taken a breath. He is going to train his a**e off and come back as the best all rounder in the world that we know he can be. It is exciting for England to see what he is putting himself through to get ready because that boy can play.”
Campbell also confirmed Stokes will feature for Durham in the Metro Bank One Day Cup after opting to skip The Hundred, prioritising match fitness ahead of the second half of England’s Test summer, which includes a series against Pakistan beginning August 19.
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