Ben Stokes’ Insta Story
Despite the severity of the blow, Stokes took the incident in good humour, writing on the post: “You should see the state of the cricket ball,” accompanied by a laughing emoticon.
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Stokes is currently not part of England’s white-ball plans and will miss the upcoming T20 World Cup. He is expected to return during England’s Test series against New Zealand in June. The incident comes after a difficult Ashes campaign for England, which ended with a heavy 4-1 defeat in Australia. Expectations were high ahead of the tour, with England aiming to win the Ashes Down Under for the first time since 2010–11. However, defeats in the first three Tests meant that Australia retained the urn within 11 days. England managed a consolation win in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG before losing the series finale in Sydney. Stokes himself endured a tough run with the bat, averaging just 18.40 over 10 innings. He was more effective with the ball, finishing with 15 wickets at an average of 25.13. His leadership also came under scrutiny. Fast bowling legend James Anderson questioned Stokes’ public praise of his players after the defeat, expressing surprise at the tone of the captain’s comments. “When I saw Stokes come out and say how (Josh) Tongue and (Brydon) Carse had just been running like consistently, I had a Roy Keane moment,” Anderson said on BBC Radio. “I was like, that’s your job. If you’re not willing to run for your team all day, don’t bother. You’re in the wrong sport.” Defending his side after the fifth Test, Stokes insisted effort and determination were not the problem. “We’ve dropped a lot of catches on this tour which have been very costly to the overall state of the games. In terms of progressing, I can never fault anyone’s determination or the energy they put into it. We didn’t perform well, we know that, fingers crossed. But nobody should question the care and determination to try and go out there and give it the absolute best performance,” he said. Stokes later admitted that he made significant mistakes as captain during the series. The England tour was also marred by off-field controversy, with a mid-series trip to Noosa attracting attention amid reports of a drinking culture in the camp. With Stokes recovering from a facial injury, attention now shifts to his return in the longest format, where England will hope to reset after a bruising Ashes campaign, on and off the field.