Stokes cleared to play for Canty

Canterbury Cricket boss Jez Curwin doesn’t expect everyone to agree with the decision to sign suspended English cricketer Ben Stokes.

Stokes, who has not played cricket since he was involved in a late-night brawl in Bristol in September, will play for the reigning Ford Trophy champions against Otago in Rangiora on Sunday.

Canterbury has signed the 26-year-old as their overseas player, but only after getting the green light from the Canterbury Cricket Board (CCB), English Cricket Board (ECB), New Zealand Cricket and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association.

‘‘It’s not just us saying this is the right thing to do,’’ Curwin said. ‘‘We sought the support from all the bodies we needed to. The decision has been made which we’re comfortable with.

‘‘We fully understand and appreciate that there will be some people that do not agree with the decision.’’

The CCB signed off on the Stokes deal on Wednesday night, but Curwin and coach Gary Stead weren’t ready to pull the trigger until they’d sat down with Stokes yester.

They spoke to him for about hour, determined he was in the right frame of mind to play, and ticked the final boxes with the ECB before confirming his signing.

‘‘Between all of us around that table, we were very happy, very confident, he’s here for the right reasons. It’s not some predetermined journey to flash up on the ECB radar,’’ Curwin said.

‘‘From [the board meeting] we were good to go, subject meeting Ben and finding out where he was and his motivation. Off the back of that, we were confident.’’

Stokes’ contract with Canterbury is ‘‘on-going’’, and Stead suggested the all-rounder could potentially be with the province through until the end of the domestic Twenty20 competition (January 20).

However, Curwin confirmed Stokes would return to the England team if they recalled him, which some pundits believe could be in the leadup to the third Ashes test in Perth, starting December 14.

‘‘The Ashes isn’t a consideration for us. We’ve been very open and Ben has been very open as well,’’ Curwin said. ‘‘He just wants to play cricket and we’re here to allow him that opportunity.’’

Stead admitted the timing of Stokes’ signing - a week after batsman Ken Mcclure stood down from representative cricket after pleading guilty to one count of injuring with reckless disregarddidn’t look good.

‘‘But I think the consistency that we’ve brought is Ben has not been charged with anything at this stage,’’ Stead said. ‘‘And that is consistent with how we did it with the Mcclure case. If any charges do come up [for Stokes], then we have our right to review things then.’’

Due to his legal situation, Stokes didn’t front media yesterday.