Stokes found not guilty, called up to England team
LONDON: Ben Stokes will now join the England squad for the 3rd Test against India, which starts at Trent Bridge on Saturday
ENGLAND CRICKET BOARD, in a statement
England cricket player Ben Stokes was found not guilty on Tuesday after saying during his trial he was acting in self-defence when he knocked out two men in a street fight.
At Bristol Crown Court, Stokes closed his eyes and then looked up at the conclusion of the case that cost him his role as vicecaptain of England’s national team.
Stokes missed England’s Ashes tour of Australia because of the incident, but he was still the most expensive overseas recruit in the annual player auction for the IPL Twenty20 competition this year when the Rajasthan Royals paid $1.95 million. UNANIMOUS VERDICT
The prosecutors had wanted to charge Stokes with two counts of assault over the fracas near a nightclub last year in the southwest English city. But the judge would only allow him to stand trial on another charge which meant the jury had to be satisfied Stokes’s fight with two men endangered people nearby. Stokes was cleared in a unanimous verdict. During a night out with England teammates after a match against the West Indies last September, Stokes had at least 10 drinks in the hours before the fight unfolded.
VAUGHAN DEFENDS Former England captain Michael Vaughan said that Stokes should be welcomed back into the Test team. “I think the fact he missed the whole of the Winter in Australia is punishment enough for Ben Stokes,” tweeted Vaughan.
Stokes’s England team-mate Jonny Bairstow, one of several players who were out with Stokes earlier that evening, said it was great news on both a personal and sporting front. “I am really happy,” he told Sky Sports. “It has been a long 10 months for him and his family.