The England Test captain says he is only alive due to one small act and lucky timing.

Ben Stokes is feeling fortunate to be alive after being struck in the face by a cricket ball, the England Test captain has revealed.

Stokes needed an operation after breaking his right cheekbone in a freak accident, and he sustained other facial injuries while coaching his county team Durham’s academy players in February.

In an interview posted by the England and Wales Cricket Board, the 34-year-old allrounder said: “I copped one straight in the face. 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 … I’ve got out quite lucky. So pretty thankful for that.

“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 I just had to 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 ready to lead his country in the first Test of the English summer against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4 as it looks to bounce back from the 4-1 Ashes drubbing in Australia.

He explained the criticism the team received for its preparation, performances and behaviour in Australia was difficult but he was not shying away from it.

“I think that a lot of it was warranted,” he said. “A lot of it was put forward in a way that was a bit extreme but when you look at it deep, deep, deep, you agree with some of it.

“I also think that some of it was a bit harsh and a bit unneeded and it was like the knives are out.

“You’ve got to take it because performing like we did in Australia is disappointing to a lot of people, and I feel like a word like ‘unacceptable’ for us to perform that way would be close because we’re a much better team than that.

“Overall, it was pretty tough and a lot of it we’ve got to take blame as players and as a team and as an organisation. You learn from these things.”