STOKES CHARGED FOR PUB BRAWL, DOUBTFUL FOR IPL
LONDON: Ben Stokes has been charged with one count of affray (means a group of people fighting in a public place and disturbing peace) by the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to a late-night incident outside a Bristol nightclub that saw him miss the Ashes series. The brawl during the ODI series against West Indies in September left a man with a fractured eye socket. Ben Stokes has been charged along with two other men. Stokes, 26, and the others are due to appear before Bristol Magistrates’ Court at a date to be fixed. This leaves Stokes doubtful for the IPL player auction scheduled on January 27-28 in Bangalore. Stokes missed the Ashes series after he was withdrawn by the England and Wales Cricket Board pending clearance from the police. He was named in the England ODI squad for the series against Australia but will now miss the matches.