England Test captain Ben Stokes feels "quite lucky" to be alive after being hit in the face by a cricket ball as he eyes a return to action next month.
Stokes suffered a broken right cheekbone and other facial injuries following the accident, which occurred while he was coaching Durham's academy players in February.
The 34-year-old underwent surgery and is set to play in two first-class County Championship games next month, but he revealed the incident could have been so much worse.
Stokes has not played competitively since the end of England's 4-1 Ashes defeat in January, and is set to return for Durham at Worcestershire on May 8.
"Pretty nasty but, funnily, probably the best result in a bad situation, to be honest," Stokes said of the training
incident as part of an interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) channels.
"I copped one straight in the face. 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 [the cheekbone] - I've got quite lucky. So pretty thankful for that.
I never understood the no helmet when spin is bowling , tbf I used to have throw downs with no helmet
After my accident last week and getting seriously lucky with the outcome I’ll never not wear a helmet , cricket balls do serious damage !!!!— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) February 15, 2026
"It obviously set everything back about a month, with getting back to where I wanted to be to play at the start of the season for Durham.
"I 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.
"I'm at the back end of all that now, but it was a pretty scary situation. Thankfully, I'm 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 in June, after their defeat to Australia Down Under.
