England Test captain Ben Stokes is expected to miss the first month of the County Championship season in Durham as he continues to recover from facial surgery.
The 34-year-old suffered a fractured cheekbone, as well as severe cuts and bruises, after the ball hit the net at Chester-le-Street in February.
Stokes ruled the surgery was successful, but his hopes of playing in Durham’s Division Two opener at home to Kent on Good Friday were dashed.
Stokes was seriously injured when he was hit by a cricket ball during training earlier this year.
Durham manager Ryan Campbell said the team was waiting for a specialist to clear Stokes, who is also expected to miss games against Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Middlesex.
The all-rounder could then return for Worcestershire’s match against Kent in May, ahead of England’s first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord’s from June 4.
Coach Campbell said of Stokes: “He was going to play in the first game. He has been training hard to be ready, but we have to wait for the specialists to clear him.”
“(The injury) was much worse than you would think. The ball hit him very hard, but he was really lucky to survive.”
Stokes has not played since the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January.
“The first blow was bad. If it had hit him in the eye, it could have been different, it could have been horrible. His cheekbone did what it was supposed to do. It caved in and protected the rest of him.”
“Stokes has a lot to prove – he’ll train his a**e.”
During England’s 4-1 defeat at the Ashes during the winter, Stokes averaged just 18.40, but suffered a groin injury in the final Test and has not played since.
Retained as captain after the disastrous tour to Australia, Stokes said in an Instagram post that the result and its aftermath had been “the most difficult period of my journey as captain”.
With that in mind, Campbell expects Stokes to return on a mission.
Stokes called the Ashes riot and its aftermath “the most difficult period of my journey as captain”
“He has a lot to prove. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that Ash didn’t do all that well,” the Durham coach added.
“He’s a proud man who wants England to be the best team in the world. There’s no doubt that the Ashes knocked him for six. He was eviscerated and now he’s coming back to life.
“He intends to develop his abilities and come back as the best all-rounder we know in the world.
“The boy can play so it’s exciting for England to see what he’s doing to prepare.”
Campbell also revealed that Stokes will miss out on The Hundred to improve his fitness ahead of England’s second half of the Test summer against Pakistan on August 19, and will play for Durham in the Metrobank One-Day Cup.
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