Cricket hero Stokes and the ‘choke’ his wife says was just a joke
How England cricket hero Ben Stokes’s wife explained away these late-night pictures
CRICKET’S former bad boy Ben Stokes turned national hero this summer when he propelled England to World Cup glory and an amazing Test match victory in the Ashes.
But his redemption was briefly threatened yesterday – as snaps appeared to show him grabbing his wife’s face at an awards party.
Last night however, Clare Stokes tried to laugh off the photographs – insisting the couple’s antics were just a way of showing affection.
The Ashes hero, 28, was seen with his hand on Mrs Stokes’s face at the North London bash in the early hours of last Thursday. In images published online yesterday, she appeared to gasp and her head tilted back as her husband seemingly grabbed her. Mrs Stokes yesterday dismissed suggestions it was a chokehold as ‘unbelievable nonsense’ and described the incident as ‘me and Ben messing about squishing up each other’s faces’.
She added: ‘Cos that’s how we show affection’. She accused photographers of ‘twisting’ it into a ‘crazy story’.
Her defiant message, posted on Twitter, was accompanied by a photo of her playfully squishing her husband’s cheeks. She added that, 20 minutes after the snaps were taken, the pair had ‘a romantic McDonald’s’ together.
The incident happened at the Professional Cricketers’ Association party at the Camden Roundhouse. After the photos were posted on the Guido Fawkes website yesterday afternoon, cricket chiefs described them as ‘innocent’. England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison said: ‘We have spoken with both Clare and Ben – as well as others in attendance – who have all clarified the innocent context behind the still photo
graphs taken at last week’s PCA Awards. Whilst it is not the case here, we recognise that for the millions who are impacted by domestic violence, this is a very real and serious issue.’
On Twitter last night, Mrs Stokes went on to post how her husband had arranged a surprise 30th birthday party for her last weekend – two days after the face incident.
Vowing not to ‘let some idiots ruin my incredible 30th’, she posted a video of Stokes making a touching speech to the gathering in which he said: ‘I love you and I wouldn’t be where I am today without you, so happy birthday!’ She also shared a photo of her and her husband posing on the red carpet, and Stokes himself later retweeted his wife’s message, alongside a kissing emoji. The face incident happened at 2.01am as the party was winding down. A short while earlier, the couple appeared to be having a row in an area where they could have been seen by many people.
The images were taken by a photographer standing on the pavement outside the Roundhouse, which has a glass-walled atrium.
Stokes was seen reaching out his left hand to his wife’s face. It happened in front of Hattie Jackson, the fiancee of the England cricket team’s press officer, who had been dancing with the pair.
Last night she told friends that she could not recall seeing anything untoward.
The exact circumstances remain unclear. It happened about 40 minutes after another incident in which Mrs Stokes appeared to be touched by a man as she posed for a group photo. It is not known if the two incidents were linked.
A witness told the Mail: ‘Stokes was at the bar and he shared a tender kiss with his wife, and they looked very much in love..
‘A short while later they were in a group taking a selfie and someone had his arm around Stokes’s wife and he must have somehow managed to touch her because she suddenly pulled away and gave him an angry look... Ben Stokes did not see this but later his wife seemed upset and seemed to be telling him about what had happened.
‘About half an hour later they were standing in the atrium area and his wife took off one of her shoes. They were talking and that is when he put his hand up to her face. She grabbed his wrist. I couldn’t see his face so I don’t know if he was being playful or what.’
Ben Stokes is heavy favourite to be voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year and has even been tipped for a knighthood after his heroics on the field this summer.
At last week’s ceremony he was awarded the Reg Hayter Cup for player of the year. His heroics this summer marked a turnaround in Stokes’s fortunes less than 12 months after he was put on trial for affray after a brawl outside a Bristol nightclub in 2017, but he was found not guilty.