STOKES IN ENGLAND RECALL AFTER NOT GUILTY VERDICT CRICKET
▶ All-rounder cleared by jury of affray charge and now in contention to face India at Trent Bridge in third Test
Ben Stokes is in contention to play in the third Test against India after being recalled to the squad following his acquittal on a charge of affray yesterday.
The 27-year-old New Zealand-born all-rounder, who took six wickets in the first Test victory over India but missed the second Test due to the trial, was found not guilty by a unanimous decision by the jury in Bristol.
“Ben Stokes will now join the England squad for the 3rd Test against India, which starts at Trent Bridge on Saturday,” the statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) read.
However, Stokes and teammate Alex Hales – who was with him when the brawl occurred – are likely to face a charge of disrepute by the ECB, which will be heard by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) chaired by Tim O’Gorman, a former Derbyshire batsman and qualified solicitor, at a date yet to be specified.
“Now that the legal proceedings have concluded, the disciplinary process for Ben Stokes and Alex Hales can be scheduled by the CDC,” the ECB said. “Considerable detail has been heard in this week-long court case and, in due course, there will be a range of matters for the Board to fully consider.”
The jury decided in less than three hours that Stokes was not guilty as was his co-defendant Ryan Ali, who was knocked unconscious in the brawl outside a Bristol night club last September.
Stokes’ lawyer Paul Lunt said in a statement after the verdict that the case had cost Stokes the England vice-captaincy, his place on an Ashes tour to Australia last winter and in other England matches.
“The past 11 months have served to highlight to Ben just how highly he values his position as an England representative, both in terms of the privilege that role entails and the responsibilities that accompany it,” Lunt said.
“Now that the trial is over, Ben is keen to get back to cricket being his sole focus,” he added.
The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) said it would continue to offer ongoing support as required by both Stokes and Hales.
“As with any of our members who face difficult situations, we provide the appropriate assistance,” a statement said. “We have been working with Ben and his legal team over the last 10 months and have provided our support throughout.
“The PCA will continue to provide that support to Ben and Alex Hales including during the disciplinary proceedings.”
Stokes’ England teammate Jonny Bairstow, one of several players who were out with Stokes on the night in Bristol when the incident happened, said the latter’s acquittal 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. Hopefully, we will see him back in an England shirt soon as we saw the impact he had at Edgbaston,” added Bairstow, referring to Stokes taking four wickets in India’s second innings including the crucial one of Virat Kohli for 51 as England won a tight first Test by 31 runs.
Stokes was replaced by Chris Woakes for the second Test at Lord’s, which England won by an innings and 159 runs.
The Warwickshire player struck a magnificent unbeaten 137 and took four wickets, so there is no guarantee Stokes will be selected for Trent Bridge despite being in the squad.
It has been a long 10 months for him and his family. Hopefully, we will see him back in an England shirt soon JONNY BAIRSTOW Stokes’ England teammate
For a British Asian child growing up aspiring to represent England as a spin bowler, there are no shortage of potential role models. Hamidullah Qadri picked some good ones. Saqlain Mushtaq and Saeed Ajmal. Graeme Swann and Jeetan Patel were particular favourites, too.
So much so that, even though he is now a professional and has already represented England at Under 19 level, he still has links to them bowling saved on his mobile phone.
And yet he borrowed things he liked from other players, too, including a number from beyond cricket’s mainstream. Players for whom it is not quite so easy to mine YouTube to imitate.
“Growing up, we were always talking about Mohammed Nabi, Nawroz Mangal, all of those players,” Qadri, the 17-year-old Derbyshire off-spinner, said. “They were role models who were doing so well for the country.”
Qadri was born in Kandahar, the city in the turbulent south of Afghanistan, in December 2000. Last year, he became the first player born in this millennium to play county cricket.
He moved to England with his family when he was 10, and has worn the blue of the national team in age-group competition already. Last summer, after taking five wickets in the second innings of his county debut aged 16, he was picked for the England Under 19 side for a one-day series against India.
Although he is intent on greater honours with his adopted nation, he retains an unwavering affinity for his birth country, too. Hence the regard he has for the likes of Nabi, who he is looking forward to playing against when the Afghan all-rounder plays for Leicestershire in Twenty20 cricket this summer, and Mangal.
Mangal, in particular, is fondly regarded in Afghanistan for his role in overseeing the country’s rise in cricket.
He was the first captain when the new national cricket team was first initiated after the Taliban were removed from power in 2001.
When he retired at the start of 2017, Mangal was given a hero’s send-off at the Desert T20 tournament in Dubai. Qadri said there could be few better role models.
“It is because of the way he carries himself, you have respect for the individual,” Qadri said of Mangal, who is now the chief selector for the Afghanistan national team.
“He is the same on and off the field, and has great leadership skills. I have never met him, but you can just see all these things from watching him on telly. He seems like he has a cool head and likes to be himself.”
Qadri’s birth predated the United States-led removal of the Taliban from Kabul by a few months.
His early life has, therefore, coincided with the rise of Afghan cricket from tape-ball matches in refugee camps across the border in Pakistan to, last week, acceptance into the Test-match elite.
He admits to only having seen a little cricket before his father moved the family to England and that he “hadn’t played with a hard ball before”.
He points out that Kandahar was, and probably still is, a place interested in football before other sports. He only took to cricket once the family had moved to their new home.
“I just went to the local park, half a mile from my house, with friends and Afghan relatives,” Qadri said. “They were playing for a local club and I started playing with them at the park.
“A few weeks after I started, a few other guys who used to come to the nets saw me. They said I was good enough, and should join a club. It grew from there.”
He said his father initially did not want him playing cricket. He is not unique there. Often parents would prefer their children to focus on studies than sport, while Rashid Khan,
the Afghanistan leg-spinner, offered an alternative reason for having his passion frowned upon.
“My parents even forbid my siblings and I to play cricket outside our home,” Rashid, who is one of 12 children, was quoted as saying before Afghanistan’s one-off Test against India this month. “But no amount of war stopped me from sneaking out to play cricket with my brothers.”
In a similar way, Qadri’s father’s misgivings were based on safety, too – although of a rather different fashion.
“My dad really wasn’t sure about it,” Qadri said. “He didn’t know much about the sport. Neither did I.
“He doesn’t know fully the rules. It is a new sport and he is finding out how it is played, and he’s getting used to it. He didn’t have much knowledge of the game. He is still learning. Because it was played with a hard ball, he was worried I would hurt myself. He was being protective.
“Then my brother and mum said, ‘Let him play, let him enjoy himself’. A year later, I was playing for the Derbyshire county side.”
He learnt much about spin bowling from studying videos of Swann, Ajmal and Patel on his phone.
“At the start, it was a few technical things that I worked on for the first year,” Qadri said. “For the second year, I moved on to learn the doosra. I learnt it within five months, and within six months I was bowling it in a game.
“I learnt about how they set their fields, how they played with the batters. It was all about learning how to get a batsman out, getting into their brain and working out how they do it.”
Even though his allegiance is altered now, Qadri hopes to make Afghanistan proud by what he might achieve in England colours.
“Afghanistan is my first country,” he said. “Of course, it has a special place in my heart. I follow them closely, and whenever they do well, it makes me happy.
“It motivates me as well. If I do well, hopefully for England, it brings pride on the Afghan name.”
My dad wasn’t sure about cricket. He didn’t know much about the sport. Neither did I. He was worried I’d hurt myself HAMIDULLAH QADRI