London, March 28 -- England captain Ben Stokes is still recovering after surgery on a broken cheekbone and will not play for Durham next week as planned.
Stokes, 34, was hit by a ball when working in the nets with Durham's academy players in early February and had surgery a week later.
Coach Ryan Campbell said Stokes was scheduled to play the season opener against Kent starting on Friday, but the club are still awaiting clearance from specialists, according to BBC sport.
Campbell said he does not expect the all-rounder to feature until matches against Worcestershire from May 8 and the reverse fixture against Kent at Beckenham from May 15. If Stokes does not return sooner, those fixtures would be his only red-ball county matches before En...