No police action over Hales

Alex Hales has been told by police he is not under investigation for the fight in a Bristol street that led to the arrest of Ben Stokes, and he will now push for his cricket disciplinary case to be heard so he can return to playing again.

Hales has a deal to play Twenty20 in South Africa in December, and others in the pipeline, but has a disciplinary hearing hanging over his head. But after meeting police on Friday, Hales is now hopeful of restarting his career.

Stokes is in a different position. He was arrested at the time of the incident and his disciplinary hearing is unlikely to take place until after criminal investigations have ended for fear of prejudicing any judicial process. It leaves Stokes in limbo. He was told this week he will not be travelling to Australia with the rest of the England squad on Oct 28 and his hopes of playing in Australia at all are fading fast.

Hales has been placed on indefinite suspension and had his case referred to a panel chaired by Tim O’Gorman. But he is not a member of the Ashes squad and will not play international cricket again until the new year one-day series in Australia at the earliest. Before then, he hopes to play in the South Africa Global T20 and Big Bash.

He could be prevented from playing in overseas leagues by an ECB ban, but it is more likely he will be suspended from England duty in one-day cricket.