He’s out! Cricket star Stokes breaks cover after brawl
NURSING a heavily bandaged hand, the shame of his late night brawl appears etched on Ben Stokes’ face.
The England cricketer emerged from his £1.7million home for the first time since his arrest over a drunken street fight outside a Bristol nightclub.
Stokes is said to have broken a finger last week after allegedly throwing 15 punches in a minute, but the strapping to his hand suggests a more extensive injury.
He was seen leaving his five-bedroom mansion in County Durham – the former home of convicted sex offender footballer Adam Johnson – as he awaits the outcome of a police investigation.
Dressed in a light grey sweatshirt and navy jeans, Stokes, 26, tried to keep a lowprofile under a baseball cap as he walked
‘Facing potential assault charge’
through the iron gates before driving away in a red £49,000 Jaguar F-Type Coupe.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced it is renewing his £700,000-a-year contract, despite the fact he is facing a potential assault charge after a 27-year-old man was left in hospital with facial injuries.
But the all-rounder, who has been compared to Sir Ian Botham for his ability with both bat and ball, has been dropped from the England squad travelling to Australia later this month for the Ashes series.
The ECB has not made a final decision on whether he will play for England later this winter. He was suspended on full pay after footage appeared to show him fighting two men close to the Mbargo nightclub in Bristol in the early hours of September 25.
A source close to the England team claimed the altercation had been a result of Stokes defending two gay men.
Avon and Somerset Police are still waiting to speak to ‘two specific witnesses’, who are yet to come forward, before a decision is made on whether to charge Stokes.
The player, who is engaged to the mother of his two children Clare Ratcliffe, could also lose a contract worth up to £1.7milliion in the Indian Premier League next year.