England Test captain Ben Stokes has revealed he's suffered a gruesome facial injury after being struck by a cricket ball in a freak training ground incident.
Stokes, 34, has had his fair share of injuries over the years, often putting his body on the line for England in gruelling conditions overseas.
The all-rounder recently led England on their Ashes tour of Australia, which yet again ended in disappointment as the visitors were thrashed 4-1.
The manner of the defeat has raised questions over Stokes' role as captain, with his position currently under review by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
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Stokes has now suffered another setback just weeks after the Ashes defeat.
He took to Instagram on Thursday to share a gruesome image of his facial injury, with the caption: "You should see the state of the cricket ball", accompanied by a laughing emoji.
In the image, Stokes has severe swelling to his face and a black right eye, with tissue coming out of his right nostril. He also appears to have cuts on his lips and cheek.
The Daily Mail report that Stokes was not batting at the time of the incident, which occurred during training, but he was stood at the side of the nets.
Stokes has previously ruled himself out of selection for the upcoming T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, which gets underway on Saturday.
Stokes has not played T20 cricket for England since the 2022 World Cup final, in which he scored a half century to help his side beat Pakistan.
His next competitive match is not until the domestic season starts in April when he is likely to feature for Durham in preparation for England's summer Test series' against New Zealand and Pakistan.
It remains to be seen whether he will still be captain by that point, with head coach Brendon McCullum's position also under scrutiny. Both men have expressed a desire to continue in their respective roles but the ECB is still undecided.
Speaking after the Ashes series defeat, Stokes said: "We haven't won here since 2010/11, and since then things have happened because people think we need to change things, but it has not really worked, has it?
"There's a lot of people who sit above me. Ashes tours in the past haven't gone well. But if you do what we did four years ago, we'll just end up back in the same situation.
"There is no doubt in my mind that me and Brendon are the right people to carry on doing this for the near future."
Topics: Ben Stokes, Cricket
Rory O'Callaghan