Canterbury in talks with Stokes
Canterbury Cricket has confirmed it is in discussions with representatives of suspended English star Ben Stokes.
Stokes departed the UK for Christchurch yesterday to visit family and work on his game, while he waits to discover whether he can join England’s Ashes tour in Australia.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is open to the prospect of Stokes, who was born in Christchurch, playing domestic matches for Canterbury, but it is far from a done deal.
Canterbury Cricket chief executive Jez Curwin, who earlier said they hadn’t yet spoken to Stokes’ team, acknowledged talks were underway.
‘‘The CCA board and New Zealand Cricket will independently be considering this issue in the near future but, until then, we are unable to provide any more detail on the status of the deliberations.
‘‘As and when there are any further developments we will of course release further statements,’’ Curwin said in a statement.
If Stokes did play for Canterbury, he would be filling the void of young batsman Ken McClure, who has stood down from representative cricket after pleading guilty on Friday to one count of injuring with reckless disregard.
An unverified photo of Stokes at Heathrow Airport on Monday with his cricket gear sent speculation into overdrive on social media that he was headed to Adelaide to take part in the second test against Australia, which begins on Saturday.
Canterbury, the defending Ford Trophy 50-over champions, open the competition against Otago at Rangiora on Sunday. Their Twenty20 campaign also gets underway against the same opponent on December 14 at Hagley Oval.
The England and Wales Cricket Board have confirmed Stokes was actually on his way to New Zealand.
‘‘The ECB is aware that Ben Stokes is making a private trip to New Zealand to spend time with his family. His travel arrangements have not been arranged by the ECB,’’ the ECB said in a statement.
‘‘He is not on his way to the Ashes, England Lions or any other official training camps with the England set-up.’’
Stokes was suspended from the tour after being arrested following an alleged late-night pub fight in Bristol that left a man in hospital with facial injuries.
He remains under investigation by police.
Curwin said they would have plenty to weigh up surrounding Stokes’ investigation, if there was mutual interest for him to play for Canterbury.
‘‘I think we’d have to look at the circumstances as they are. It’s all about where he is in his process - being charged, not being charged.
‘‘Again, we’d have to look at the whole package as an entirety rather than pick every element.
‘‘There’s a lot of hoops we’d need to go through.’’
Stokes was sorely missed in the first test in Brisbane as England suffered 10-wicket defeat.
England director of cricket Andrew Strauss said on Sunday that they were no closer to hearing whether Stokes will face criminal charges for the incident.
And until that is decided England cannot begin their disciplinary process to decide whether he will play in the Ashes.
England opted not to allow him to tour Australia until the police matter is addressed, but his travel may fuel speculation he is a chance to play in Perth from December 14.