Ben Stokes and Alex Hales suspended from England duty until further notice

AFP/Getty Images
Tom Collomosse28 September 2017

Ben Stokes has been axed by England indefinitely along with team-mate Alex Hales after video emerged allegedly showing the all-rounder throwing punches in a street fight.

The ECB announced on Thursday that the pair would not be considered and that chairman Colin Graves had backed the calls to leave them out. Stokes was on Wednesday named in the squad for this winter’s Ashes series in Australia.

Stokes has a finger injury but the decision means opening batsman Hales will not play in Friday’s final one-day international of the summer, against West Indies at Southampton.

A statement read: “Ben Stokes and Alex Hales will not be considered for selection for England international matches until further notice.

“Each remains on full pay pending further ECB investigation and the on going Police investigation into an incident in Bristol in the early hours of Monday 25 September.

“Andrew Strauss, Director of England Cricket, will today refer the internal disciplinary procedure for these two players to the Cricket Discipline Commission, chaired by Tim O’Gorman.

“These decisions, fully supported by ECB Chairman Colin Graves, were made following the release of footage viewed by ECB for the first time on Wednesday night.”

AFP/Getty Images

Stokes is believed to have spoken to Strauss earlier on Thursday to discuss the matter, with the all-rounder’s participation on England’s tour of Australia this winter now in serious doubt.

The ECB have acted after watching the footage posted on the website of The Sun newspaper. Strauss had already launched his own investigation into what happened in Bristol in the early hours of Monday, before the latest developments.

Hales was with Stokes when the alleged incident took place at 2.35am, in the Clifton Triangle area of Bristol, after which a 27-year-old man was taken to hospital. Stokes was arrested and released under investigation.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in