I will clear my name, vows Stokes after affray charge
England cricketer looking forward to his day in court in case relating to incident outside Bristol nightclub
BEN STOKES, the England cricketer, has said he plans to clear his name after being charged with affray following an altercation outside a Bristol nightclub.
The 26-year-old Durham all-rounder lost his place in the England’s Ashes squad after being arrested in the early hours of Sept 25, last year.
Yesterday he was charged along with two other men with affray and will appear before Bristol magistrates’ court at a date yet to be fixed.
Stokes was arrested following an incident outside a nightclub in the Clifton area of the city hours after England had played a one day international against the West Indies.
He missed the tour to Australia while police investigated the allegations, with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) saying he would not be considered for selection “until further notice”.
In a statement posed on Twitter, yesterday Stokes said he now looked forward to clearing his name in court.
He said: “I want to thank all those who have continued to support me in relation to the Bristol incident, not least my family, friends, fans and teammates. I gave a full and detailed ac- count of my actions to the police on day one – the same day as the incident – and have co-operated at each step of the police inquiry.
“I am keen to have an opportunity to clear my name but, on advice, the appropriate time to do this is when the case comes to trial.
“The CPS’S decision to charge me, as well as Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale, at least means that my account of what happened that night can come out in court and be made public. Until then, my focus is very much on cricket.”
A Crown Prosecution Service) spokesman said: “Following a review of all the available evidence, the CPS has authorised the police to charge three men with affray in connection with the incident. Ben
Stokes, 26, Ryan
Ali, 28, and Ryan
Hale, 26, are all due to appear before Bristol magistrates’ court on a date to be fixed in relation to this charge.”
Stokes was initially named in England’s Ashes squad, which was announced two days after the alleged incident.
Two days later, he and team-mate Alex Hales, who was out with Stokes on the night in question, were suspended indefinitely on full pay by the ECB. The door was left open for Stokes to travel to Australia if the police investigation against him had found no case to answer.
He was cleared by the ECB to play in three one-day games and three Twenty20 matches for Canterbury in his native New Zealand last month.
But it took until yesterday for him to learn whether he would be charged, a week after England were condemned to a 4-0 series defeat Down Under. Stokes was named four days ago in the Test squad for March’s tour of New Zealand, having also been given permission to take part in the lucrative Indian Premier League, which begins the following month. His place in the England set-up was always pending any decision whether to charge him and his participation in both now lies in the balance. Hales’s suspension was lifted last month after police confirmed he would not face charges. However, both he and Stokes will eventually be subject to possible action by the ECB’S independent Cricket Discipline Commission, which delayed hearing the case until the end of any criminal proceedings.
The ECB said: “ECB is aware that Ben Stokes has been charged with affray in relation to an incident in Bristol in September. The board will now convene within 48 hours to decide on Ben Stokes’ availability to represent England at this stage. A further announcement will be made in due course.”