Career almost over! Ben Stokes reveals horror injury, confirms comeback

England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has opened up about a scary moment where he suffered a “pretty nasty” injury earlier this year. Ben Stokes, who is known for his fearless attitude, revealed that things could have gone very wrong if he had not turned his head around.

The journey has not been easy; still, there is relief that things are moving in the right direction for the star all-rounder. The accident took place in February at Durham’s indoor training center. He was simply standing near the nets while coaching the young players during a session.

When Ben Stokes suffers a nasty facial injury

Suddenly, an 18-year-old batter, Robbie Bowman, hit the ball hard, and it went straight towards Stokes’ face. The impact was very serious as the ball hit him directly and fractured his cheekbone. His right eye got badly swollen and bruised, his face had cuts, and his nose was bleeding.

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It was a frightening moment for everyone present at Durham’s indoor training center. Soon after the incident, Stokes had to undergo facial surgery, which thankfully went well. But the recovery has taken more time than expected, as his return was pushed from April for the county season to May 2026.

Ben Stokes calls it a 'Lucky' escape after a scary injury

Sharing updates on his recovery, Stokes has admitted that it was a tough phase, and the situation could have been much worse, but he managed to avoid something more dangerous. That thought itself has helped the England captain stay positive during recovery.

Stokes said in an in-house interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB): “Yeah, copped one straight in the face. Pretty nasty, but funnily probably the best result of a bad situation, to be honest. Just a couple inches one way or the other; I might not be here doing this interview if I didn't turn my head round.

Yeah, so all things considered, although I had pretty major facial surgery to sort it out. It was a bit of a mess under here. Got out quite lucky. So yeah, pretty thankful for that.”

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Ben Stokes plans county return before big Test comeback

Now, Stokes’ main focus is on getting back fully fit. The ace all-rounder revealed that he is planning to play a few county matches for Durham before the busy international season begins.

If everything goes well, Stokes is expected to return as England captain in the first Test of the home summer against New Zealand at Lord’s, starting on June 4.

Stokes signed off by saying, “And yeah, 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 yeah, 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. So yeah, at the back end of all that now, but it was a pretty scary situation to be in, but thankfully still here and everything's all right.”

Ben Stokes was this close 🤏 to things being life-changingly different. pic.twitter.com/A4Zy9ggsFi

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) April 15, 2026