Tag: Ben Stokes

England Test captain Ben Stokes facial transformation has left the cricketing fraternity stunned during a video appearance ahead of a packed cricketing summer.

The transformation was captured in a video posted on England Cricket’s social media handles, featuring numerous Three Lions cricketers showcasing the new kits across all three formats.

Following the video, Stokes’ transformation drew attention online.

 

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For those unaware, all-rounder Stokes suffered a broken cheekbone after being hit by the ball during a net session while he was coaching academy players at his county side, Durham, in February.

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After recovering from a serious injury, the 34-year-old revealed that he could not have been alive.

“I copped one straight in the face,” the 34-year-old told the England and Wales Cricket Board.

“Pretty nasty but, funnily, probably the best result of a bad situation, to be honest. Just a couple of inches one way or the other, I might not be here doing this interview if I hadn’t turned my head around,” he added.

“All things considered, although I had pretty major facial surgery to sort it out, it was a bit of a mess under here (cheekbone), I’ve got out quite lucky. So pretty thankful for that.”

England are set to play New Zealand in a three-match Test series, starting from June 4 at the Home of Cricket, Lord’s.

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England Test captain Ben Stokes has said he feels “quite lucky” to be alive after being hit in the face by a cricket ball.

All-rounder Stokes suffered a broken cheekbone after being hit by the ball during a net session while he was coaching academy players at his county side Durham in February.

Stokes 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.

“I copped one straight in the face,” the 34-year-old told the England and Wales Cricket Board.

“Pretty nasty but, funnily, probably the best result of a bad situation, to be honest. 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 (cheekbone), I’ve got out quite lucky. So pretty thankful for that.”

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He added: “Obviously it 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 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.

“At the back end of all that now but it was a pretty scary situation. Thankfully still here and everything’s all right.”

Stokes is expected to be fit to lead England in the first Test of their home season against New Zealand at Lord’s starting on June 4 as they look to recover from their woeful 4-1 Ashes humiliation in Australia.

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England captain Ben Stokes has dismissed suggestions of a collapse in his relationship with coach Brendon McCullum, although he says the way they work together will “look a little bit different” this season.

Stokes and McCullum, a former New Zealand captain, have been in a close alliance since joining forces in 2022. But there appeared to be a difference in their respective approaches as England slumped to a woeful 4-1 series Ashes loss in Australia.

As all-rounder Stokes opted for a more grinding, disciplined approach, as the series wore on, while McCullum continued to stand by his mantra of ultra-aggressive ‘Bazball’ cricket.

Both men backed each other in public at the end of the series, and Stokes reiterated that position following media reports that a post-Ashes review had revealed tensions between the duo.

“Saying we weren’t aligned, I think, is a massive overstatement,” Stokes said in an in-house interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board published Tuesday.

“When you’re in a position of leadership along with someone else, if anyone thinks that you’re always going to agree on everything, then it’s just impossible.”

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England are back in Test action in June, against New Zealand, before taking on Pakistan at home as well. Stokes said there would be a change in how he worked with McCullum as the team look to return to winning ways ahead of the 2027 Ashes in England.

“I’m very confident in mine and Brendon’s ability to be able to work together, because we’ve done it for such a long period of time now, but work together in a slightly different way,” he said.

“The main point of me and Brendon is our alignment towards winning things and making this team as good as they can be. That’s always been the thing since we started. It might just look a little bit different now to how that operates — on the back of four years working together.

“Hopefully we’ll still be together at the end of 2027, winning what we want to win.”

Ben Stokes is currently recovering from a facial injury after being struck by a stray ball in pre-season training, but is expected to lead England in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4.

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England Test captain Ben Stokes will be sidelined for the first month of the county season as he recovers from a cheekbone injury sustained in a training accident.

Stokes suffered a broken cheekbone after being hit by the ball during a net session with his Durham team-mates last month.

The 34-year-old said that his subsequent surgery was a success, although his photo on Instagram, showing a badly swollen and bruised face, revealed the extent of the horrific injury.

The prolonged rehabilitation process means that Stokes has had to delay his return to action.

The all-rounder, who has not played since the final game of England’s Ashes series thrashing in Australia in January, was originally hoping to make his comeback against Kent in Durham’s first round of County Championship fixtures next week.

But he now looks likely to sit out the first four matches of the domestic campaign before preparing for the New Zealand Test series by facing Worcestershire and Kent in May.

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“He was going to play the first game; he’s been training so hard to be ready. But he won’t play in that, obviously. We have to wait for the specialists to clear him,” Durham coach Ryan Campbell said.

“Unfortunately, it’s made a change, the accidental bump. He is pencilled in for Worcester and Kent, and I think it will just be those two, to be honest.

“He has got to recover from the facial injuries and then have to build up again. It is a long, old summer, and he will have that mapped out but is keen and ready to go.”

Campbell believes Ben Stokes was lucky to avoid further damage given the nature of the grisly injury.

“It was so, so much worse than you’d think. The ball was hit so hard, we are just lucky he got away with it,” he said. “The initial whack was bad. If it hits him in the eye, it could have been different. That could have been horrific.”

“His cheekbone worked the way it is supposed to: it caved in and looked after the rest of him. It is a bit scary, but a reminder to all of us to keep our eye on the ball.”

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Ben Stokes reckons the past three months have been the “hardest period” of his time as England captain, but is determined the current leadership group can oversee a revival in the Test team’s fortunes.

Earlier on Monday, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Richard Gould, confirmed that Stokes, managing director Rob Key, and coach Brendon McCullum would all remain in their posts despite the team’s 4-1 loss on their five-Test tour of Australia, which concluded in January.

Key denied suggestions that Stokes and McCullum had fallen out in Australia, despite the pair offering contrasting messages during a desperately disappointing series loss.

Stokes, in an emotional Instagram post, said he was determined to learn from his mistakes following the lowest period of his near four-year spell as England captain, with Key and McCullum still the right men to be alongside him.

“Being England captain is the greatest honour a player can be given, and I do not take it for granted,” Stokes wrote.

 

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“It has its highs, and it has its lows; it makes you want to smile, it makes you want to cry. It completely and utterly consumes you and feels like it’s the only thing in your life at times.

“The last 3 months has without a doubt been the hardest period of my captaincy journey, it’s tested me in so many different ways, and I’m sure every other captain has gone through this as well.

“Baz (McCullum), Rob and myself have the passion and desire to take this team forward, we are going to give you everything we have, we know we made mistakes along the way and we have learnt from those mistakes, you learn more from failure than success.”

In addition to England’s poor performances on the field, there were reports of excessive drinking by players on a break, raising concerns about the dressing-room culture.

Revelations followed that vice-captain Harry Brook had been involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer on the pre-Ashes visit to New Zealand.

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A midnight curfew has since been enforced, while the ECB are trying to recruit a new national selector after Luke Wright resigned for family reasons.

Ben Stokes has not played since suffering a groin injury in the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January, but is set to feature for Durham in the County Championship ahead of this season’s home Test programme.

England have three Tests against McCullum’s native New Zealand in June, followed by a trio of matches against Pakistan in August and September.

“We all appreciate every single person who supports us. We do what we do for many reasons but one of those reasons is to bring our supporters and fans happiness and a sense of pride and we will aim to do those things as much as we can in the future,” Stokes said.

“See you all in June for the start of the Test Match summer.”

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England Test captain Ben Stokes says that he has undergone successful surgery after being struck in the face by a cricket ball.

The 34-year-old all-rounder posted a picture on Instagram last week showing his eye heavily swollen and bruised, a graze on his cheek and lip, and a bandage stuffed in his nose.

“You should see the state of the cricket ball,” read the caption, alongside a laughing face emoji.

On Tuesday, he posted again from the hospital with a photo of his swollen face and the caption: “May not look like it but the surgery was a success.”

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Stokes is back in England following a woeful Ashes tour, which ended with a 4-1 series loss to Australia.

Although he has made it clear he wants to continue to captain the red-ball side, his position remains uncertain, and there is an England and Wales Cricket Board review.

Stokes is no longer a member of England’s white-ball set-up and isn’t at the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

He could next play for Durham in the early rounds of the County Championship before England begin their home Test season against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4 — Stokes’s 35th birthday.

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LONDON: Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali are set to join England Lions coaching staff for the upcoming white-ball series against Pakistan Shaheens, slated to commence in Abu Dhabi next month.

According to the England Cricket Board (ECB) press release, the tour involves three T20 matches, which will be followed by five 50 over fixtures.

Jordan Cox will captain the Lions in the T20s while Dan Mousley will take charge of the 50-over team.

“Jordan Cox and Dan Mousley will captain the England Lions’ T20 and 50-over squads respectively during next month’s white-ball series against Pakistan Shaheens in the United Arab Emirates,” the board said.

Following the announcement, ECB Men’s Performance Director, Ed Barney shared his views on the tour, emphasizing the tour as a buildup towards the 50 overs World Cup set to be held in 2027.

“It’s exciting to have such a strong England Lions squad selected. This group brings a real blend of proven performers, exciting talent who have performed over the winter and retains an eye on future best,” he said.

“With limited 50-over cricket on offer, this series combined with tours over the remainder of 2026 will give players the opportunity to develop and deliver as we build towards the 2027 ICC Men’s World Cup in South Africa,” he added.

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England Lions head coach Andrew Flintoff will oversee the coaching responsibilities that will also include Troy Cooley’s, who will be joining the team for the first time since returning to the ECB as Men’s Elite National Pace Bowling Lead.

Moreover, the coaching setup will also include Neil McKenzie, Sarah Taylor, Neil Killeen, former all-rounder Moeen Ali, Amar Rashid and England’s Test skipper Ben Stokes.

The opening match of the tour will commence on Friday 20 February 2026 at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

T20 squad

Sonny Baker, Luc Benkenstein, James Coles, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox (c), Scott Currie, Calvin Harrison, Eddie Jack, Saqib Mahmood, Ben McKinney, Tom Moores, Dan Mousley, Matt Revis, Will Smeed, Nathan Sowter, Mitchell Stanley and Asa Tribe.

50-over squad

Sonny Baker, Luc Benkenstein, James Coles, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox, Scott Currie, Calvin Harrison, Eddie Jack, Ben McKinney, Dan Mousley (c), Liam Patterson-White, Matthew Potts, Matt Revis, James Rew, Mitchell Stanley, Asa Tribe and James Wharton.

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Former England cricket chief Andrew Strauss has warned that removing coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes will not be enough to change a “depressingly one-sided story” in Australia following another painful Ashes defeat.

Strauss, 48, was the last England captain to win an away Ashes series, when his team triumphed 3-1 in 2010-11.

Since then, England’s record has been pitiful; they have lost 16 and drawn just two of their Tests in Australia.

McCullum and Stokes are under pressure after the visitors went 3-0 down in the series on Sunday, with two matches still to play.

But Strauss, England’s director of cricket from 2015 to 2018, has urged those within the game to avoid knee-jerk responses.

In the aftermath of England’s previous defeat in Australia, a 4-0 loss in 2021-22, Strauss led a high-performance review of the domestic game.

His eventual report made numerous suggestions, including cutting the number of first-class matches, restructuring the domestic game and focusing on incentivising elite player development, but they were largely thrown out by the English counties.

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Although he made no reference to the review in a wide-ranging post on the social network LinkedIn on Monday, Andrew Strauss appears to be arguing for a fresh look at such proposals.

“So there it is, another ambitious set of England cricketers made the journey to Australia, full of hope and optimism, only for their dreams to come crashing down around them after only 11 days of cricket,” he wrote.

“McCullum and Stokes will come under extreme scrutiny for the decisions they took in preparation for this tour in the same way that (Ashley) Giles and (Chris) Silverwood did after the last tour. And Andy Flower after 2013/14 and Duncan Fletcher after 2006/07.”

He added, “While they will know that this goes with the territory, none of the above are responsible for England losing so incredibly consistently in Australia since 1986/87.

“We have been badly mauled time after time over there because Australia are a better team, served by a better high-performance system.

“If we are genuinely serious about changing this depressingly one-sided story, then we need to look beyond sacking England coaches and captains and ask whether we are genuinely willing to make the changes necessary to break the trend.”

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England assistant coach Jeetan Patel has provided an update regarding captain Ben Stokes, stating that the all-rounder is fit to bowl for the remainder of third Ashes Test, though he remains visibly tired after a grueling day.

Stoked did not bowl an over in Australia’s second innings as the home side reached 271 for 4 at the end of the third day’s play.

The hosts had built a daunting 356-run lead, putting them firmly on course to retain the Ashes after winning the first two Tests.

Travis Head and Alex Carey finished the day with 142* and 52* runs respectively.

Ben Stokes, meanwhile, battled out five hours with 83 in England’s first innings. During his stay at the crease, he seemed to hobble and struggle with cramps under the scorching sun.

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Following this, he also spent time off the field after hitting his head on the ground while fielding.

Speaking after the day’s play, Patel turned down any concerns regarding the Three Lions skipper.

“He is fit to bowl, he’s just pretty knackered,” he told reporters at the Adelaide Oval.

“From what I understand, he’s pretty fit to bowl. I think he’s just pretty knackered and he’s taken a lot out of himself to get through to this point in the game,” Patel added.

Patel added that Stokes always operates at full intensity and would not bowl if he felt he could not perform at 100%.

“All I know is he goes at 100%. If he thinks he can’t do it at 100%, I don’t think he’s going to do it,” he concluded.

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ADELAIDE: Captain Ben Stokes has demanded England to “show a bit of dog” in the must-win third Ashes Test against Australia on Wednesday after “raw” conversations following heavy defeats in Perth and Brisbane.

The tourists have crashed to consecutive eight-wicket losses and must snap a 17-match winless streak in Australia at Adelaide Oval to keep the five-match series alive.

They have made one change with Josh Tongue replacing fellow quick Gus Atkinson, while off-spinning all-rounder Will Jacks kept his place ahead of Shoaib Bashir.

Stokes said after the Gabba defeat that Australia was “no place for weak men” and admitted to hard dressing-room discussions in the aftermath.

“What’s been said has been said,” Stokes told reporters. “I’ve done all the talking over the last two days that I needed to. All that stuff’s done now, so it’s about what gets seen out on the field in Adelaide this week.”

Ben Stokes was called “the most competitive person I’ve ever come across” by former England captain Alastair Cook last week, and the 34-year-old all-rounder wants to see more fight from his team.

“It’s just about trying to fight in every situation that you find yourself in, understanding the situation and what you feel is required for your team,” said Stokes.

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“Just look at your opposition every single time and show a bit of dog. That’s fight to me. You’re giving yourself the best possible chance if you’ve got a bit of dog in you.”

Asked how the team had responded to his demands, Stokes replied: “It goes one or two ways, and the response that the whole group has shown as a collective has been exactly what I wanted.

“And we’re going into this week with a full understanding of what we need to do. I think the team is very, very understanding of some of the bits that I’ve raised in the dressing room.”

Ben Stokes cited England’s battling third Test win against India at Lord’s in July as an example of the grit he wanted to see, the hosts having won by 22 runs deep into day five after a time-wasting row.

“That’s exactly what I’m on about,” he said. “We were probably in a situation where we would have to be absolutely perfect to win that game, and we were.

“The attitude and the mentality towards that specific situation is what gave us the best chance of winning that game.”

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