A test for cricket

Ben Stokes is currently England’s best allround cricketer, though Chris Woakes, a centurion in the last Test against India, is running him close. Indeed, given the latter’s performance in the emphatic innings victory at Lord’s, he may yet keep Mr Stokes out of the team for the next match. Many will argue that he should and not just because he deserves to stay in the side on merit.

Even though Mr Stokes was found not guilty of affray at Bristol Crown Court yesterday, question marks remain over his behaviour that night. For a well-paid elite sportsman to end up in a street brawl in the early hours is unedifying at the best of times. Given that he was in the middle of a one-day series against the West Indies at the time, his nightclub foray is even harder to fathom.

Mr Stokes’s lawyer said a “curfew” had not been imposed by the team’s managers as had been reported. But why not since the team still had another game to play? While Mr Stokes is still, at 27, a young man, does he really need to be told to steer clear of excessive drinking and nightclubs?

The England and Wales Cricket Board now needs to decide whether to discipline Mr Stokes for bringing the game into disrepute. It may conclude that he has already served his punishment because he was suspended after being charged and missed the Ashes tour to Australia over the winter. Given the powerful batting, pace bowling and sheer enthusiasm he offers, they will want him back as soon as possible. But he needs to acknowledge that his behaviour was unseemly and unbefitting of a cricketer who many youngsters will look up to. England want a competitive Stokes back, but a chastened one, too.