UPDATE 6th October: Ben Stokes will not travel with the England team for the Ashes. He has been temporarily withdrawn from the squad and will not rejoin the squad until investigations over his Bristol arrest are over.
West Indies are currently on a tour to England, wherein they lost the test series but then came back and won the only T20I – proving that they are truly world champions in that format. The ODI series is now underway and after 3 games, England are leading 2-0, having lost one game to rain.
The 3rd ODI was played on Sunday where England posted a mammoth total of 369/9, which was never going to be easy to chase down for the Windies. The latter ultimately lost by 124 runs and while Moeen Ali was adjudged Man of the Match for his sizzling hundred, Ben Stokes also had a big part to play in that game.
Before holing out in the deep, Stokes played a very Stokesy innings, scoring 73 in just 63 balls, having hit 5 boundaries and 3 sixes. He has been their star over the last year or two but a day after this 3rd ODI, Stokes was arrested in Bristol due to an ‘incident’.
Stokes was at a nightclub in Bristol on Sunday night following the team’s victory, and was arrested in the early hours of Monday morning. Teammate and England opener Alex Hales was also present with Stokes when this incident took place but was not arrested.
However, he returned on Tuesday to voluntarily help the police with further investigations. England captain Eoin Morgan announced that both Stokes & Hales will be dropped from the 4th and 5th ODIs for this reason. Stokes spent the night in jail and to be honest, this wasn’t his first alcohol related incident since his career began.
Stokes was then released without any charge but further investigation will take place. Reports say that a man walked out of the club with a bruised face so we’re guessing it was another pub brawl. However, this has come at a very wrong time for Stokes, given the fact that England’s Ashes squad is going to be announced on Wednesday, 27th September.
In 2012, the 26-year old was arrested over a late night incident, and then in 2014, he was sent back from the World T20, for punching a locker. Stokes is #4 on the ICC Test All-Rounder Rankings at the moment and that shows how important he is to the team.
Now the question that arises is – Will Stokes find his name in the Ashes squad that will be announced tomorrow morning? While Stokes is one of the most important members of the squad and will be crucial to their chances in the 2017 Ashes, ECB may take strict disciplinary action against him.
That’s all we can tell you about this story at the moment. However, keep watching this space to get all the latest updates and developments. You can also subscribe to get all the latest stories on Read Scoops. Don’t forget to leave your comments.
