Stokes and Hales fined but free to play for England

LONDON: Cricketers Ben Stokes and Alex Hales were fined on Friday for their involvement in a nightclub altercation but were cleared to play for England after match bans were either suspended or declared served.

All- rounder Stokes and batsman Hales had appeared before a two-day disciplinary hearing after the ECB charged the pair with bringing the game into disrepute .

Stokes was handed an eight-match ban by the disciplinary panel, which accepted that he had already missed that number of games and therefore remained eligible for immediate selection.

The player, who was cleared of affray at Bristol crown court last August, was also fined a total of 30,000 pounds with half to be paid to charity. Hales was given a six-match ban from England white ball (one day) matches, of which two had been missed already and the rest were suspended for 12 months—leaving him also available for selection.

He was fined a total of 17,500 pounds, with 10,000 of that sum also suspended.

The pair, who have both resumed their international careers, had risked anything from a warning to the termination of contract.

Each was charged with two counts of breaching an ECB directive concerning acts “which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute.”

England take on West Indies in three tests, five oneday internationals and three Twenty20 internationals from January to March.

Stokes had been accused of knocking out Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale in a brawl in Bristol, southwest England, just hours after he had played in against the West Indies in September last year. REUTERS