England captain Ben Stokes takes 2 wickets and completes 20 overs for Durham on injury comeback

WORCESTER, England (AP) — England captain Ben Stokes took two wickets and completed 20 overs for Durham on Saturday in a successful comeback from breaking a cheekbone in February.

Stokes finished with economical figures of 2-54 against Worcestershire in a second-tier county championship game. It was his first outing in any cricket format since the fifth and final Ashes test against Australia in early January.

Stokes needed an operation after being struck in the face by a cricket ball while coaching his county team Durham’s academy players. He said last month during an in-house interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board that he felt fortunate to be alive.

That Stokes opened the bowling for Durham and showed both pace and his trademark seam movement is good news for England heading into a busy summer of test cricket.

The 34-year-old allrounder may even be an option to open the attack in the first test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4. He has done so twice before, but not since 2022 against Pakistan.

England is looking to bounce back from a 4-1 Ashes drubbing in Australia and must win back the trust of fans, following an Ashes tour where player indiscipline and the leadership of coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key were heavily criticized.

The three-test series against New Zealand is followed by three tests against Pakistan, starting at Headingley in the northern city of Leeds on Aug. 19.

___

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket