Ben Stokes ‘quite lucky’ to have escaped further harm in training mishap

Ben Stokes has admitted he feels lucky to be alive after being hit in the face by a cricket ball.

The England captain suffered a broken right cheekbone and other facial injuries following the accident that occurred while he was coaching Durham’s academy players in February.

Stokes underwent surgery and is on track to play in two County Championship games next month, but he revealed the incident could have been significantly worse.

Speaking in an in-house interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board, the 34-year-old said: “I copped one straight in the face.

“Pretty nasty but, funnily, probably the best result of a bad situation, to be honest. 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.

“All things considered, although I had pretty major facial surgery to sort it out, it was a bit of a mess under here (cheekbone), I’ve got out quite lucky. So pretty thankful for that.

“Obviously 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.

“At the back end of all that now but it was a pretty scary situation. Thankfully still here and everything’s all right.”

Stokes is expected to be ready to lead England in their first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord’s beginning on June 4 as they look to bounce back from their Ashes drubbing.