Cricket

England captain Ben Stokes was struck on the face by a cricket ball, which required surgery for a broken cheekbone.

England Test captain Ben Stokes has said he feels “quite lucky” to be alive as he recovers from surgery after being hit in the face by a cricket ball.

All-rounder Stokes required the procedure after suffering a broken cheekbone sustained by being hit by the ball during a net session while he was coaching academy players at his domestic county side Durham in February.

Stokes is set to play in two first-class County Championship games next month, but he revealed the incident could have been so much worse.

“I copped one straight in the face,” the 34-year-old told the England and Wales Cricket Board.

“Pretty nasty but, funnily, probably the best result of a bad situation, to be honest. Just a couple of inches one way or the other, I might not be here doing this interview, if I didn’t turn my head round.

“All things considered, although I had pretty major facial surgery to sort it out – it was a bit of a mess under here (cheekbone), I’ve got out quite lucky. So pretty thankful for that.”

He added: “Obviously it set everything back about a month, five weeks, with getting back to where I wanted to be to play at the start of the season for Durham, but just had to sort of quickly go back to the drawing board and put a plan together to get me ready to play a couple of games for Durham before the Test summer starts.

“At the back end of all that now, but it was a pretty scary situation. Thankfully still here and everything’s all right.”

Stokes is expected to be fit to lead England in the first Test of their home season against New Zealand at Lord’s starting on June 4, as they look to recover from their woeful 4-1 Ashes humiliation in Australia.

Stokes downplays rift with England coach McCullum

Stokes, meanwhile, has played down reports of disagreements with head ⁠coach Brendon McCullum but added that they do have different viewpoints at times.

British media reported that former New Zealand captain McCullum’s relationship with Test ⁠captain Stokes frayed during the Ashes series defeat in Australia, though the duo have publicly backed each other.

“I am very confident in mine and Brendon’s ability to be able to work together, because we’ve done it for ‌such a long period of time now,” Stokes said in an interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“But we work together in a slightly different way. The main point of me and Brendon is our alignment towards winning things and making this team as good as they can be.”

Since taking charge in 2022, McCullum and Stokes implemented ⁠an ultra-aggressive style of play known as “Bazball”, which has ⁠come under much scrutiny since England’s Ashes defeat, prompting the ECB to launch a thorough review into the team’s preparations.

McCullum was retained as coach.

“Agreeing on every single thing, that’s ⁠just impossible,” Stokes said.

“We agree 95% of the time on things, but those 5% things that we might ⁠have different views on, we talk about it ⁠between each other and then we end up getting to the place where we want to get to.

“We put a lot of our heart and soul into this job. Brendon certainly ‌has for the four years he’s done it so far, and hopefully we’ll still be together at the end of 2027, winning what we want ‌to ‌win.”

England host New Zealand for a three-Test series in June before eight limited-overs matches at home to India.

Indian teenage prodigy smashes his third IPL half century as Rajasthan routed Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

Days after turning ‌15, Rajasthan Royals opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi found a perfect way to ⁠celebrate, tearing ⁠to a 15-ball half-century in a commanding eight-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday.

Sooryavanshi, who ⁠lit up his debut season with a 35-ball hundred against Gujarat Titans last year, took only 15 balls to smash his first fifty ⁠of the season – the third fifty-plus score of his eight-match IPL career so far.

Alongside fellow opener and India batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sooryavanshi tore into the Chennai attack in the powerplay, leading the team to 74 without loss.

Sooryavanshi was ‌dismissed for 52 after 17 balls, including five sixes and four fours, after sharing a blistering 75-run stand with Jaiswal. Rajasthan sealed victory in just 12.1 overs after chasing down a victory target of 128.

“I think of defending, but the plan was to decide the game in the powerplay as we’d restricted them to a low score,” ⁠Sooryavanshi said.

“If the bowlers had bowled well in ⁠the powerplay then the game might have turned their way, but we went all out in the powerplay.”

The Under-19 World Cup winner credited Rajasthan coach Kumar Sangakkara and staff for ⁠backing his attacking instincts.

“They told me to read the situation well and back my game,” he added.

Rajasthan’s quick ⁠chase followed a brilliant bowling effort. Their ⁠attack reduced Chennai to 41-4 at the end of the powerplay, putting the visitors firmly on the back foot before they were dismissed for 127 in 19.4 overs.

South Africa pace ‌bowler Nandre Burger led the charge with figures of 2-26 and was named player of the match, while Jofra Archer and Ravindra Jadeja also ‌took ‌two wickets apiece.

Rajasthan will next face the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Saturday, while Chennai host Punjab Kings on Friday.

Pakistan Super League has been jolted by the ball-tampering accusation against Zaman, which allegedly occurred on Sunday.

Lahore Qalandars batter ‌Fakhar Zaman has been charged with ball-tampering in ⁠Sunday’s Pakistan Super ⁠League (PSL) match against Karachi Kings, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.

The incident occurred in the ⁠final over, with Karachi needing 14 runs to win. Fakhar, Lahore captain Shaheen Afridi, and fast bowler Haris Rauf were ⁠involved in a brief discussion, during which Fakhar and Rauf passed the ball between them.

The umpire then approached Rauf and asked to see the ball. Following consultations with the square-leg umpire, the ‌officials awarded five penalty runs to Karachi and ordered the ball to be changed.

The penalty proved costly, as Karachi went on to chase down a target of 129 with three balls to spare, and Abbas Afridi hitting a four and a six to seal a four-wicket victory.

“Fakhar denied the charge ⁠levelled against him during a disciplinary hearing ⁠led by the match referee Roshan Mahanama,” the PCB said.

“Another hearing is set to take place within the next 48 hours after which the match ⁠referee will share his verdict.”

Afridi said they would look at video footage of the incident.

“I ⁠don’t know about this, and we’ll ⁠see if it’s there in the camera and discuss it,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Fakhar, 35, could face a ban of one or two matches ‌if found guilty of ball tampering for a first offence in the PSL.

Australian trio David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft ‌were ‌handed lengthy bans by Cricket Australia following a 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

Pakistan’s Naseem Shah under fire for slamming politician’s presence at start of closed-doors PSL game in Lahore.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has attacked fast bowler Naseem Shah for criticising a politician’s presence at the start of the opening game of the Pakistan Super League, which is being played behind closed doors.

Fans are barred from attending games at the country’s premier domestic tournament, which was originally scheduled for six venues but now reduced to just two — Lahore and Karachi.

The Middle East conflict has resulted in exorbitant fuel hikes in the region, and Pakistan’s government is urging people to restrict travel and to work from home.

Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz was invited to Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, along with other dignitaries, and was introduced to officials of the eight franchises and players ahead of the opening game of the tournament between defending champion Lahore Qalandars and first-timers Hyderabad Kingsmen.

Shah commented on a tweet about the opening game by the PCB, with the bowler saying on X, “Why is she treated like the queen at Lord’s?” in an apparent reference to Nawaz’s presence at the stadium. He deleted the post soon afterwards and later said his account had originally been hacked.

The PCB said in a statement that Shah had been issued a notice for violating the terms of his central contract as well as media policy and regulations.

“The show-cause notice has been served in accordance with the PCB’s disciplinary framework,” the PCB said. “Naseem Shah is required to provide a response within the stipulated time. Upon receipt and review of his response, the PCB will decide on any further action in line with the regulations.”

Last year, Pakistan all-rounder Aamer Jamal was slapped with a fine of $4,000 for displaying a slogan in favour of cricket great Imran Khan, Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister.

Shah is scheduled to play for new PSL franchise Rawalpindi Pindiz in Saturday’s game against Peshawar Zalmi, led by former Pakistan all-formats captain Babar Azam.

Shah, a right-arm fast bowler, has taken a total of 152 wickets while representing Pakistan in 20 Test matches, 34 one-day internationals and 37 T20 games.

Frustrated players say they were left in the dark for days over their travel while England flew out within two days.

Cricket’s governing body has rejected suggestions of unequal treatment after the West Indies and South Africa squads were stranded in India for more than a week following their exit from the T20 World Cup, while England flew out in less than two days.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been accused of giving preferential treatment to one team over the other two amid the travel chaos resulting from airspace closures and rerouted flights because of the war in the Middle East.

However, the ICC said on Wednesday it “rejects any suggestion that these decisions have been driven by anything other than safety, feasibility and welfare”.

“We understand that players, coaches, support staff and their families who have completed their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaigns are anxious to return home,” it said in a statement.

Cricket West Indies said on Tuesday its squad had waited nine days for a charter flight that was “repeatedly delayed”, calling the uncertainty “increasingly distressing”.

West Indies ‌players were leaving India on commercial flights in batches 10 days after their scheduled departure, which led to frustrated players airing their thoughts in social media posts.

The ICC said nine West Indies players and staff members were already travelling to the Caribbean, with the remaining 16 booked on flights departing India within 24 hours.

Indian media reported that a charter flight for the West Indies and South ⁠Africa Twenty20 World Cup teams scheduled to fly to Johannesburg before continuing on to Antigua was cancelled earlier on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, South Africa, who have been stranded in ⁠India since March 4, will begin to fly home on Wednesday, with the entire contingent ⁠departing in the next 36 hours, the ICC said.

England flew home ‌less than two days after being beaten in the semifinals, prompting criticism of the ICC from the South African and West Indian camps.

Darren Sammy, head coach of West Indies, began venting his frustration on social media on the fifth day since his team’s exit from the T20 World Cup.

“I just wanna go home,” he wrote on X, followed by another tweet requesting an update after being left in the dark for five days.

Three days after South Africa were knocked out, in the first semifinal, their players Quinton De Kock and David Miller said the team had heard nothing from the ICC regarding their departure while England, who were eliminated a day later in the second semifinal had already left.

“England are leaving before us somehow?! Strange how different teams have more pull than others,” De Kock wrote in an Instagram story.

Miller, commenting on a post announcing England’s departure, said: “It doesn’t take the ICC long to organise England charter. WI have been waiting for 7 days for a charter and SA coming on 4 days now. And yet we still wait.”

The ICC said the criticism was “incorrect” and that there was no comparison between arrangements for South Africa and the West Indies and those made for England, “which arose from separate circumstances, routing options and different travel conditions”.

“Throughout this period, the ICC’s overriding ⁠priority has been the safety and welfare of everyone affected,” the sport’s global governing body said.

“We will not move people until we are satisfied that the travel ‌solution in place is safe, and that commitment will not change.”