England Test captain Ben Stokes is prepared to miss the first month of the County Championship season with Durham as he continues his recovery from facial surgery.
The 34-year-old suffered a broken cheekbone and horrific cuts and bruises after being hit by a ball in the net at Chester-le-Street in February.
Stokes thought his operation was a success, but his hopes of playing in Durham’s Division Two opener at home to Kent from Good Friday were dashed.
Stokes suffered serious injuries after being hit by a cricket ball during training earlier this year.
Durham manager Ryan Campbell said his side were waiting for experts to remove Stokes, who is unlikely to feature for the games against Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Middlesex.
The all-rounder could return to action against Worcestershire and Kent in May ahead of the first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4.
Campbell said of Stokes: “He was due to play his first match. He has been training so hard to be ready but we have to wait until the experts clear him.”
“(The injury) was worse than I thought. The ball hit him too hard, but I’m glad he’s okay.
Stokes has not played since the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January.
“The first beating was severe. If it had hit him in the eye, it could have been different, it could have been terrible. His cheekbones worked as expected. The dents took care of the rest of him.”
‘Stokes has a lot to prove – he will work on his skills’
Stokes averaged 18.40 with the bat as England lost 4-1 in The Ashes last winter, before picking up a groin injury in the final Test and not playing since.
He was retained as skipper after a harrowing tour of Australia and Stokes said in an Instagram post that the result and fallout had made it “the most difficult period of my captaincy tour”.
With that in mind, Campbell expects Stokes to return for the job.
Stokes called the Ashes defeat and the subsequent fallout ‘the most difficult period of my captaincy journey’.
“He has a lot to prove. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that the Ashes didn’t go that well,” the Durham coach added.
“He is a proud man who wants England to be the best team in the world. There is no doubt that the Ashes dropped him to sixth place. He was upset but he can breathe now.”
“He will work on his skills and come back as the best all-rounder we know him to be in the world.
“It will be very interesting for England to see what work the boy is putting in to get ready so he can play.”
Campbell also revealed that Stokes will play for Durham in the Metro Bank One Day Cup after opting to skip The Hundred to build up fitness ahead of England’s second half of the summer of Tests against Pakistan from August 19.
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