Superstar England all-rounder Ben Stokes has suffered a bizarre double setback in his bid to play the first Ashes Test next week.
The 30-year-old batter-paceman was originally ruled out of the tour Down Under, which begins at the Gabba on December 8.
Stokes had complications from a finger injury, and then announced he would take a break from cricket to focus on his mental health.
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But the England and Wales Cricket Board last month dropped a bombshell on the Aussies by declaring Stokes would travel, and hoped to play in all five matches in cricket’s longest and most storied rivalry.
However, following his arrival in Australia there’s been yet another twist and the last few days have not been kind to the man who broke Australia’s hearts in a famous Ashes innings at Headingly in 2019.
Writing in a column for the Mirror, Stokes revealed he choked on a tablet while alone in his hotel room in Brisbane.
“(It) got stuck in my windpipe causing me to choke horribly before the glands in my face went into overdrive to flush it out,” Stokes wrote.
“Until it actually came out, I thought this might be the end.
“I was on my own in my room and I couldn’t breathe as it became lodged and started to dissolve. It felt like my mouth was on fire.
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“Without going into too much detail I have never seen as much saliva as I did on Sunday morning, it was a genuinely frightening experience.”
The England team doctor was able to help Stokes and he avoided the incident being more serious.
But then, only hours later, Stokes was batting in the nets during a training session when he was struck on the forearm by a short ball.
“I was in agony, and I couldn’t lift it thereafter. I thought it was broken,” Stokes wrote in his column.
Luckily the injury was not as serious as first thought, and England is hopeful Stokes will be available to play at the Gabba next week.
It will be his first Test match since March… although that’s still more recent than any Australian cricketer.
“We’ve just got to treat Ben carefully as we would with anyone else who has been in that position of not having a lot of cricket under their belts,” ECB director Ashley Giles told media.
“He will be a difficult man to hold back if he is ready to go.”
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