Stokes suspended from inter nationals

CRICKET: Ben Stokes’s Ashes appear to be under threat after England suspended him from all future international matches until further notice. Stokes was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm.

BEN STOKES’S Ashes winter appears to be under threat after England suspended him and Alex Hales from all future international matches until further notice.

The pair will not be considered for selection, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced, after the governing body saw video footage published on The Sun newspaper’s website that allegedly shows Stokes throwing punches in a street fight.

Test vice-captain Stokes, who was selected in England’s Ashes squad on Wednesday, was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm after disorder in the Clifton Triangle area of Bristol in the early hours of Monday morning.

Stokes was released without charge later that day, but has remained under investigation by Avon & Somerset Police since while Hales returned voluntarily to Bristol on Tuesday to provide further evidence about the incident.

In a statement yesterday, the ECB said: “Ben Stokes and Alex Hales will not be considered for selection for England international matches until further notice.

“Each remains on full pay pending further ECB investigation and the ongoing police investigation into an incident in Bristol in the early hours of Monday, September 25.

“Andrew Strauss, director of England Cricket, will refer the internal disciplinary procedure for these two players to the Cricket Discipline Commission, chaired by Tim O’Gorman.

“These decisions, fully supported by ECB chairman Colin Graves, were made following the release of footage viewed by ECB for the first time on Wednesday night.”

Stokes’s status as vice-captain, as well as his Ashes prospects, therefore appear to be under major threat.

The ECB named Stokes in their Ashes squad 12 hours before the video was posted by The Sun, confirming his availability despite a broken finger on his right hand and saying at that point that he retained the Test vice-captaincy, chief support to Joe Root.

Strauss also revealed the ECB were initiating their own internal disciplinary investigation, not just into Stokes’s and Hales’s behaviour, but that of several other players who accompanied them for at least part of the evening after England’s ODI series win over the West Indies was clinched.