Ben Stokes has revealed his battered and bruise face after appearing to take a nasty blow in training.
Stokes posted the picture of his face on Instagram. In it, he is sporting bruising and swelling below his right eye, as well as a cut and graze on his cheek, and a cotton-wool plug to stem bleeding in his nose.
“You should see the state of the cricket ball,” wrote the England Test captain, alongside an emoji of a laughing face.
That Stokes appears to be back in training is a source of encouragement, even if he will likely have to take some time off to recover from the blow.
Stokes is currently recovering from an adductor injury suffered during the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in early January. The injury meant he could not bowl in Australia’s second innings and completed a frustrating tour for the England captain, who defied his body to bowl well throughout the series but struggled with the bat. His team went down 4-1.
The groin issue is the latest in a string of injuries for England’s Test captain to fight back from. In 2024, he tore his hamstring twice, leading to long lay-offs, and he finished last summer’s series against India on the sidelines because of a shoulder issue. An operation in late 2023 appears to have put long-term knee issues behind him.
He is not expected to play any cricket until late April or May, when he will tune up for the Test summer with some competitive action for Durham. The first Test against New Zealand begins on Stokes’s 35th birthday, June 4.
With speculation around the future of coach Brendon McCullum, Stokes has confirmed his desire to continue as England captain. He is contracted by England until the end of the 2027 summer. He is unlikely to enter next month’s auction for the Hundred, meaning his focus is entirely on the Test team.
