Ben Stokes and Alex Hales set to find out fate at ECB hearing

Cleared of affray: Ben Stokes
AFP/Getty Images
Tom Collomosse4 December 2018

Ben Stokes and Alex Hales are set to learn this week whether they will face punishment from the ECB for bringing the game into disrepute.

Stokes was cleared of a charge of affray at Bristol Crown Court earlier this year, in relation to an incident that took place outside a nightclub in the city in September 2017. Hales was not charged with anything but was with Stokes at the time of the incident.

A suspension or fine are among the possible punishments from the ECB’s Cricket Discipline Commission.

All-rounder Stokes, 27, was left out of England’s squad for last winter’s Ashes series but returned in New Zealand at the start of this year and has been an integral member of the team once again.

Hales (below) remains involved in England’s white-ball sides. At the hearing, which starts tomorrow and is also scheduled to run on Friday, the CDC will decide whether further action is required against the two players.

The Commission have three members — former Derbyshire batsman Tim O’Gorman is chair, with ex-England swing bowler Mike Smith, now an employment lawyer, and the judge, Chris Tickle, who was a long-time member of the Warwickshire committee. The case has been brought by the ECB, with the players’ legal teams providing the defence.

Getty Images

After Stokes played a typically influential role on England’s recent 3-0 Test series whitewash in Sri Lanka, England coach Trevor Bayliss was full of praise for his behaviour. On Monday England announce their touring parties for the series in the Caribbean early next year.

Bayliss said: “I hope he’s available for our next tour and I certainly think he’s learnt a lesson since that time. The way he has conducted himself since he has come back into the fold has been exemplary. [The situation] hasn’t affected him.”

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