Darren Stevens hospitalised after blow to head, Jake Ball injures knee

Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens is hospitalised after he was hit on the head by a bouncer in the County Championship Division Two Game between Kent and Nottinghamshire. He is reportedly suffering from a concussion and a headache but has avoided major injury. The incident happened during the second innings.

Problems in sighting the ball after hit

He was batting on 31 when his former Leicestershire teammate Harry Gurney bowled a bouncer which Steven ducked into and was hit at the back of the head which damaged his helmet severely, underlining the impact of the blow. He batted on but had to stop seven balls later when he complained of not sighting the pink ball properly. He left the field immediately and was sent to the hospital for scans as a precautionary measure.

The 41-year all-rounder will not take any further part in the day and night fixture played at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Kent have their backs against the wall leading by just 23 runs and with 3-second wickets in hand with a full day of play still left in the game.

“Darren won’t take any further part in the game. The early assessment suggests a concussion. He’s struggling with a bit of vision in his left eye and he’s got a raging headache, so we’ll get him off to the hospital and get him checked out because he’s not 100 per cent at all.” Kent coach Matt Walker told the reporters at the end of the day’s play.

Fast bowler Gurney, who is also a close friend of Stevens, was glad that his former teammate escaped major injury. “He came in and was playing some shots so I tried to make life unpleasant for him because he’s not a spring chicken anymore,” Gurney said. “I ran in and bowled a bouncer and caught him on the head, which as a bowler is tricky because you want to intimidate the batsman and encourage them to make a mistake.

“But Stevo is a mate of mine and it wasn’t nice to see him down on the deck like that, although I’ve just seen him and he’s ok,” he added.

In 273 first-class games, Stevens is 3 short of attaining 400 wickets. He also has more than 14,000 runs with the bat making him one of the most influential all-rounders in England domestic cricket. Stevens also has 300 List A appearances in a career which started 20 years ago in 1997.

Injury concern for Jake ball too

Stevens wasn’t the first player to get injured in this game. England and Nottinghamshire bowler Jake Ball had to go off midway during his 3rd over in the second innings due to a knee injury. He was sent for scans and now is racing against time to be fit for the first Test against South Africa in case of a possible call-up.