London, February 15 – England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has vowed to always wear a helmet while playing or even practicing batting after being seriously hit on the face by a ball at the start of the month.
Stokes also questioned the batting tactics of not wearing helmets while facing spin bowlers in the match.
"I never understood the rule against wearing helmets when spin bowlers are bowling; I used to practice with throwdowns without a helmet," Stokes wrote on X. "After my accident last week and the fortunate outcome, I will never not wear a helmet; cricket balls cause serious damage," he added.
Stokes was accidentally hit by a cricket ball while watching a net session for his county side, Durham, resulting in damage to his cheekbone, nose, and eye.
Stokes posted a photo of his bruised face from the hospital immediately after sustaining the injury and captioned it, “You should see the state of the cricket ball.”
England’s premier all-rounder has to undergo surgery on his broken cheekbone after the incident. He informed about the surgery success through an Instagram post on February 5, showing him in a hospital bed with heavy bruising to his right eye and a small incision on his cheek.
"It might not look like it... but the surgery was a success," he wrote in the post.
Stokes is no longer part of England's white-ball team after the 2023 World Cup and is not involved in their T20 squad for the ongoing 2026 T20 World Cup, where England has won two out of three matches in their group stage.
Stokes is likely to make his next international appearance in the first Test of England's home series against New Zealand in June, though he may play for Durham in the County Championship.