Ben Stokes endured a brutal blow from a cricket ball while practicing at his home in Durham. The England Test captain shared a bruised picture of his face on his Instagram handle, where there was a blue, swollen bump under his right eye alongside a grazed cheek and lip and a bandage stuffed in his nose.
Despite suffering such a ghastly blow, Stokes didn't dry English humour was intact as the caption of the picture said, "You should see the state of the cricket ball."
The 34-year-old English all-rounder is likely to take part in the early rounds of the County Championship for Durham if the facial wounds heal in time. The participation in County cricket will serve as a good preparatory platform for the southpaw before England's Test summer, which is going to start from June 4 with a Test series against New Zealand.
England suffered a heavy 4-1 loss in the Ashes under Ben Stokes's captaincy, due to which his position as skipper and Brendon McCullum's role as head coach are in limbo.
A decision on this regard will be taken by the ECB and the Wales Cricket Board post the T20 World Cup. However, Stokes has made it public that he's still keen to continue as England's captain and has also expressed his desire to continue working with Brendon McCullum.
It's not my decision, I'm sure if something ever comes to it, I'll be asked my opinion and he'll be getting my full support and backing," Stokes said. "I absolutely love working with Baz. He's a great man and he's a very, very, very good coach."
