England Test captain Ben Stokes has successfully undergone surgery for a facial injury, he confirmed on social media.
The 34-year-old all-rounder posted an image on Instagram showing his bruised and swollen right eye and cheek, accompanied by the message: “May not look like it… but the surgery was a success.”
Stokes had earlier this month disclosed he was hit in the face by a ball, sharing an initial photograph with the caption, “You should see the state of the cricket ball.”
It was later reported he sustained the injury while coaching academy players at Durham’s indoor cricket centre.
His return to England follows the 4-1 Ashes series defeat in Australia over the winter, a tour currently subject to an extensive review.
While his future leadership has faced scrutiny, England coach Brendan McCullum has labelled some of the fallout as “out of order”.
England had headed Down Under with high hopes of claiming a first series win in Australia since 2010/11.
However, they lost the opening three Tests in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide as Australia wrapped up a series victory inside 11 days of cricket.
Stokes’ men did pick up a consolation win in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, coming out on the right side of a thrilling two-day match.
However, the series ended on a low as England suffered another defeat in Sydney.
Stokes is now recovering at home while some of his team-mates headed on to a subsequent limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka before playing in the T20 World Cup.
England survived a major scare in their first match of the tournament on Sunday, beating Nepal by four runs. They play their second game against West Indies on Wednesday.
Stokes is anticipated to play for Durham in the initial County Championship rounds before England commence their Test summer against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4.
