Ben Stokes left with facial injuries after being struck by cricket ball: 'You should see the state of the ball!'

Ben Stokes has suffered a significant facial injury after being struck by a cricket ball.

The England Test captain posted a picture on Instagram showing his right eye heavily swollen and bruised, a graze on his cheek and lip, and a bandage stuffed in his nose.

He captioned the picture: "You should see the state of the cricket ball."

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The 34-year-old is back in England following the dismal Ashes tour, which ended with a 4-1 defeat last month, with question marks still hanging over his position, amid an ECB review.

The post-mortem is still continuing with England coach Brendan McCullum claiming some of the fall-out has been "out of order".

Stokes next could feature for Durham in the early County Championship rounds before England kick off their Test summer against New Zealand at Lord's on June 4.

England's T20 World Cup fixtures (first round)

All times UK and Ireland; all games live on Sky Sports

• vs Nepal (Sunday February 8) - Mumbai (9.30am)
• vs West Indies (Wednesday February 11) - Mumbai (1.30pm)
• vs Scotland (Saturday February 14) - Kolkata (9.30am)
• vs Italy (Monday February 16) - Kolkata (9.30am)

Watch every match of the T20 World Cup live Sky Sports from February 7-March 8. Get Sky Sports or stream contract-free.

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Ben Stokes left with facial injuries after being struck by cricket ball: 'You should see the state of the ball!'