STOKES CRISIS
Arrested over 3am street brawl Set to be stripped of vice-captaincy In club until early hours during Test
English cricket is reeling after Ben stokes was arrested early on Monday following a brawl outside a Bristol nightclub that left a 27-year-old man in hospital with facial injuries.
The England all-rounder spent a night in the cells before being released without charge. But police investigations are ongoing and stokes was ruled out of today’s fourth oneday international against West indies at The Oval, which begins shortly after the announcement of the Ashes squad.
There is every chance England’s director of cricket Andrew strauss will now strip stokes of the vice-captaincy before England leave for Australia next month.
Opening batsman Alex hales, who was with stokes, will also miss today’s game after returning to Bristol to help police with their enquiries. it is understood he was not directly involved when the incident took place at 2.35am on Monday in the Queens Road area of the city.
Details remain sketchy of what happened after a group of players went out to celebrate England’s win in the third one-day international on sunday at Bristol’s nevil Road.
But, with no team curfew in place, it is
understood Stokes and Hales became separated from five team-mates after visiting Bristol’s late-night Mbargo bar before the incident which led to Stokes’s arrest. One report suggested the man who ended up in hospital had a verbal altercation with Stokes which became physical.
The ECB refused to confirm that Stokes — referred to as a ‘26-yearold man’ in a police statement — had an X-ray on his hand following the fracas. But they will have more urgent matters to deal with than an injury.
Stokes has a history of disciplinary issues and thrust the sport into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons on the eve of the Ashes squad announcement.
Asked whether Stokes’s place in the squad would now be under threat, Strauss said he had instructed the selectors to pick players ‘based on form and fitness, as they normally would’.
Sportsmail can also reveal that Stokes had already been involved in a late-night escapade during a Test match last month.
The player had a night out in Manchester and only returned to the England team hotel at about 3am after the first day’s play in the Old Trafford Test against South Africa on August 4. Stokes was seen with friends in Crazy Pedro’s, a well-known, late-night drinking haunt, but England personnel were informed that it was around midnight when he went back to the Lowry Hotel.
Stokes received a dressing-down from ISM, the company that manages his affairs, who warned him not to end up on the back pages of newspapers as Wayne Rooney has recently.
There was no suggestion Stokes had been drinking heavily that night in Manchester.
But, asked during a recent interview whether he still drinks alcohol during Test matches he replied: ‘Yeah, why not? We’re grown men, go out for dinner, have a few pints. I’m 26, not 14. I don’t have to drink Diet Cokes with dinner.’
A statement from Avon and Somerset police, who have issued an appeal for witnesses, said: ‘A 27-year- old man suffered facial injuries and was taken to the Bristol Royal Infirmary for treatment.
‘A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm and has since been released under investigation while enquiries continue.’
Serious cases of actual bodily harm can lead to prison sentences of between one and three years, although if the case ever goes to court it is believed Stokes will plead self-defence.
The chances of a court hearing getting in the way of Stokes’s participation in the Ashes are slim. That scenario would involve the Crown Prosecution Service pressing charges before the team fly to Australia on October 28, which would be an unusually quick turnaround for an ongoing investigation.
The most likely scenario, if the CPS decide to take the case further, would be for a hearing early next year.
But England’s white-ball captain Eoin Morgan admitted the episode had been a distraction as his team look to take a 3-0 lead in their 50- over series against West Indies.
Hales is thought to feel aggrieved to be missing a game when he is not accused of being involved in the incident.
Jason Roy will return to the top of the order to partner Jonny Bairstow, while Sam Billings has been drafted into the squad.