Ben Stokes' return to competitive cricket delayed until May

Ben Stokes has been sidelined until May as a result of the surgery he underwent last month on a broken cheekbone. Therefore, the England red-ball captain won't be available to play for his county team, Durham, for the first month of the County Championship.

For the uninitiated, the star allrounder suffered a blow to his face while helping out during a net session when a Durham academy player accidentally hit him in early February. Though he was a part of the England Lions coaching outfit that oversaw their series against Pakistan Shaheens in the UAE in February-March, he has yet to be declared fit to mark his return to the field of play.

Durham's head coach, Ryan Campbell, said that the 2019 World Cup winner was fortunate to get away with the incident, as things could have been worse.

"[The incident] could have been horrific," Campbell was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo on Durham's pre-season media day. "So, so much worse than what you think. A couple of centimetres a different way it hits him in the eye and it could have been different.

"The ball was hit so hard. We are just lucky he got away with it."

The 34-year-old allrounder's last competitive game was the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG in January this year, where he picked up a groin injury. If his rehab goes as planned, he would most likely feature for Durham against Worcestershire and Kent before leading England in a three-match Test series against New Zealand at home, starting June 4 at Lord's.

Campbell also asserted that Stokes had been training hard to regain full fitness and had a lot to prove.

"He has been training so hard to be ready," Campbell said. "He has a lot to prove. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know the Ashes didn't go so well, and he is a proud man who wants England to be the best team in the world.

"He, as a professional, is working at getting right and ready to go."