Stokes champing at bit to get back

Ben Stokes has earned the nicknames 'Rocky' and 'The Hurt Locker' after sustaining the self-inflicted wrist injury which has delayed his start to the season.

The 22-year-old required an operation after fracturing his scaphoid when he punched a dressing-room locker following his dismissal in the third Twenty20 international against West Indies - an incident which ruled him out of the World Twenty20 tournament.

And former England spinner Graeme Swann will not allow the all-rounder to forget about it.

"I've been called Rocky a couple of times," Stokes said.

"Swanny sings the theme tune in my ear every time I see him. The Hurt Locker, if you've heard of that film..."

Stokes, one of the few bright lights of England's miserable winter in Australia, has endured a difficult start to the campaign, limited to playing computer games and minor gym work before a May 12 specialist appointment which he hopes will give him the all-clear to return to the middle with bat and ball.

He added: "I find it quite tough watching. I'm champing at the bit to get back out there.

"Doing this was no-one else's fault. It was an act of stupidity.