Fire’s being stoked
THE man who permanently banished Kevin Pietersen from international cricket risks being judged a hypocrite if he lets Ben Stokes play for England again, let alone tour Australia for the Ashes.
Former England captain Andrew Strauss is the ECB’s respected director of cricket, but his reputation will live or die by the action he takes on Stokes after graphic video footage appeared to capture the star all-rounder brutally assaulting a man outside a Bristol nightclub.
Strauss was widely praised for the strength of character he showed in calling out Pietersen for the toxic impact he was having on the England dressing room and slamming the door shut in the superstar batsman’s face, marking his cards never to play again.
However, it is difficult to draw such a decisive line in the sand on Pietersen, who was at the end of the day nothing more than a disruptive force, and then not come down like a ton of bricks on Stokes for a sickening act of violence that could have ended far more tragically for the 27-year-old man on the receiving end, who was sent to hospital with facial injuries.
So far Strauss’ response to the explosive crisis has been soft. The fact that the man floored by Stokes’ right fist started the fight brandishing a bottle suggests there is another side to this story, but even if the all-rounder’s involvement in the brawl started out as self-defence it quickly descends into a shocking act of thuggery.
“They’ve got a big headache,” former Australian captain Ian Chappell said.
“Add to that he’s their most valuable player for the series coming up.
“I would have thought it’s the last thing Andrew Strauss needed right at the moment.”
Strauss’ justification for letting due process take its course falls down when the video evidence is as damning as it has proven.
“We’ve seen this footage for the first time tonight – when posted by The Sun,” an ECB representative said.