When will Stokes grow up?
For six days he stood suited and booted. They were not the boots he wanted to be in, or the shirt. A white one with three lions on it would’ve felt more safe and secure, less sweat inducing. But this was the reality for English cricket star Ben Stokes who, once again, had provoked life to bowl him another bouncer. This time, he ducked.
By now you would’ve read up on Kiwiborn Stokes’ close call, being found not guilty of affray after a fight near a Bristol nightclub, after winning a one-dayer, after a lot of drinks, after a trip to jail in a police car.
Trials are strange things to read about. To know what truly goes on in a court room you need to sit there day after day and hear the little things the reporters can’t fit into their story.
In New Zealand you might not have understood just how this story dominated the papers, how often it led the nightly news, how bad it looked for Stokes.
The Brits love their reality TV and here was another star who’d been a bad boy before, back in the naughty books but this time with violent pictures.
The story opens with our protagonist walking into court in Bristol gripping the hand of his wife, Clare; to show he’s not all bad, to ward off the bad juju from the media multitudes, for support? The pressure must’ve been immense.
There’s nowhere to hide these days. In the past an understanding fan may’ve been prepared to keep quiet about a transgression or abuse of the law. Now, the phones are out in a flash. And the jury watched the action unfold on mobile phone and CCTV footage from the comfort of the dock. Don’t change the channel, this is going to get good.
At home, his fans may have felt he was a young lad with too much energy in the wrong place at the wrong time. If it was a reality show the director would cut to the dark and recent past. In 2013 he was sent home from an England tour of Australia for late-night drinking. In 2016, caught speeding four times. In 2017, reprimanded for using ‘‘obscene, offensive or insulting’’ language on West Indies tour.
The prosecution accused him of homophobic abuse outside the club where the fracas broke out. He was defending them, said Stokes, and himself. The gay couple, who were the centre of so much attention, never appeared as witnesses and no statements were read from them. Strange.
The strange stuff continued when Stokes was told ‘not guilty’ and yet so was the other guy charged with affray. The two men shook hands. No-one was guilty.
When the verdict was read, Stokes closed his eyes and looked up while his wife cried. Some media had spoken to the gay couple who said Stokes had been defending them. The jury were not told why the men weren’t called.
So was justice done? The court has already decided but the English Cricket Board may have a different view.
The 27-year-old’s lawyer insisted the case had reminded his client of his privilege and responsibility as an English representative but the bigger problem for Stokes seems to be getting that information to stay in his mind. Yet another moment of madness when an athlete only remembers the consequences of his actions when they’re dragging his career towards a cliff edge.
So what now for arguably the country’s most high-profile cricketer, the protagonist, the anti-hero, the man?
The ECB will now hold its own disciplinary review and yet he’s already been put into the England squad for the third test against India.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels he’s been punished enough after missing seven of England’s last 11 tests dating back to the Ashes. But he also said Stokes needed to ‘grow up’.
At what point will Ben Stokes learn; after being welcomed back to the team, after playing another test, after taking more wickets or after winning another series? So soon after a trial that could have caused irreparable damage to his career, maybe cricket is not the answer right now.