Stokes closer to knowing street fight fate
Ben Stokes appears closer to knowing if he will face criminal charges for a street fight after his England teammate Alex Hales was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Hales will soon return to playing cricket after UK police ruled the batsman was no longer a suspect in relation to the brawl involving Stokes outside a Bristol nightclub.
Hales’ clearance indicates UK prosecutors are nearer to determining whether New Zealand-born Stokes will be charged for his role in the incident in late September.
Hales is set to be included in England’s one-day squad to play Australia in a five-match series starting on January 14.
UK media are reporting Stokes will likely be a provisional inclusion in the squad, expected to be named later this week.
Hales and Stokes, who is representing Canterbury in the Ford Trophy one-day competition, had been suspended by England’s cricket board after the brawl.
But the ECB has cleared Hales to return.
“Alex Hales will now be considered for England selection following confirmation that he is no longer a suspect in relation to an incident in Bristol in September,” the ECB said in a statement.
“The ECB Board has convened via conference call to make the decision after being informed that Hales is deemed a witness and will face no charges.”
Stokes and Hales were suspended indefinitely by the ECB pending the outcome of a police investigation into their alleged involvement in a fight outside a nightclub which left a man with a fractured eye socket.
UK police have finalised their investigation with prosecutors now deciding whether to lay charges.
The ECB ban on Stokes and Hales applied only to England matches, with Stokes returning to competitive cricket for Canterbury last Sunday.
The allrounder played in a one-dayer against Otago in Rangiora, where he struggled with both bat and ball.
He is expected to feature in another game for them in Auckland today.
Once prosecutors inform the ECB of the status of Stokes, an independent Cricket Discipline Commission will decide on what, if any, penalty to impose, a separate process to any court action.
Meanwhile, Auckland prefer to talk up their pace bowler Lockie Ferguson than get caught in the whirlwind of interest surrounding Stokes.
The teams meet in a domestic one-day match at Eden Park Outer Oval today in a match which will carry more attention than usual.
Canterbury are expected to include Stokes for a second game, with the 26-year-old keen to keep himself in match shape.
Auckland captain Craig Cachopa says Stokes, and his teammates, are likely to bounce back following a heavy loss.
“The whole Canterbury side will be hurting after losing first up to the Volts,” he said.
“Ben Stokes is a class player and it will be interesting to see how he goes but there’s 10 others out there so our focus can’t be on just one man.”
Auckland, who lead the competition after opening with a hefty win over Central Districts, are boosted by the return of Ferguson.
The pace bowler was in devastating first-class form before being called into the New Zealand squad but he was omitted from the first test win over the West Indies.