Stokes targets Durham comeback

Ben Stokes plans to play a maximum of three first-class matches before England’s Test series against New Zealand in June as he continues his recovery from serious facial injuries. Stokes, who oversaw England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia, underwent surgery in February after being struck by a ball in the Durham nets. He had initially planned to play a block of County Championship fixtures in April and May after recovering from a groin injury sustained at the SCG in January, but his comeback has been delayed. He now intends to play two four-day matches for Durham against Worcestershire on May 8 and Kent on May 15 and will also consider playing for England Lions in a first-class match against South Africa A at Arundel on May 22 before linking up with England for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4. In a pre-recorded interview with the ECB’s in-house media team released on Wednesday Stokes described his facial injuries as a “freak incident” and said they could easily have been far worse. “I copped one straight in the face,” he said. “[It was] pretty nasty, but funnily [enough], probably the best result of a bad situation, to be honest. “A couple of inches one way or the other and I might not be here doing this interview if I didn’t turn my head around. All things considered, although I had pretty major facial surgery to sort it out… I’ve got quite lucky, so I’m pretty thankful for that.” He added: “It was a pretty scary situation to be in, but thankfully I’m still here and everything’s alright.” Stokes said that the blow had set his return back by “about a month [to] five weeks” and that his potential Lions appearance would depend on “how I feel” and his workload for Durham. “If I can get through the loads that I want to get through and feel pretty good out in the middle, then hopefully I’ll be good to go for the summer,” he said. Stokes used the same interview to defend his relationship with England coach Brendon McCullum, but said that his team had no choice but to “take a few bullets” after their performance bordered on “unacceptable” in Australia. England will closely monitor his progress over the coming weeks as they prepare for the Test series against New Zealand.