Ben Stokes opens up on ‘scary’ incident that left him with severe facial injury

Swipe for next article All News Sport Culture Lifestyle Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Ben Stokes opens up on ‘scary’ incident that left him with severe facial injury Bookmark popover Removed from bookmarks Close popover Ben Stokes urges England hopefuls to impress in County Championship England Test captain Ben Stokes sustained a broken cheekbone and other facial injuries in February after being struck by a cricket ball during a Durham academy training session. Stokes underwent facial surgery and described the incident as "pretty scary”, expressing that he was “quite lucky” to be alive. The injury caused a "month, five weeks" setback to his pre-season preparations, but he is now on track to play two County Championship matches next month. He is anticipated to lead England in their first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord's, commencing on 4 June. Stokes acknowledged that some criticism of England's Ashes performance was warranted, but he believes the team is now in a stronger position and is focused on performing for England. In full Ben Stokes says he’s ‘quite lucky’ to be alive after horrifying training accident More bulletins