Ben Stokes to be dropped from England ODI squad to face Australia as Dawid Malan comes in as cover
England all-rounder is waiting to discover if the Crown Prosecution Service will charge him over his arrest for an incident in Bristol last September
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Your support makes all the difference.England will add Dawid Malan to their One-Day International squad as cover for Ben Stokes ahead of the five-match series that begins in two weeks’ time.
Stokes will not fly out to Australia until the Crown Prosecution Service confirm if any charges will be brought against him regarding a late-night incident that occurred in Bristol last September. The 26-year-old was arrested after being involved in a street fight, which led to England dropping the all-rounder from the entire Ashes series that they have already lost with one Test left to play.
Despite flying out to New Zealand to play for Canterbury – only to return to the United Kingdom for “family reasons” after playing three one-day games and three Twenty20s – Stokes has been informed that he will not be selected for any of the ODIs until his case is resolved, and with no set date for that decision to come by, England will add Malan to the 16-man squad that was announced at the start of December.
Malan has not played a 50-over match for England, but the 30-year-old scored the first century for England of the Ashes tour thanks to his impressive innings of 140 during the second Test in Perth, and has 316 runs in total from seven innings in Australia.
Stokes meanwhile is expected to play in the Indian Premier League should he choose to do so, with the England and Wales Cricket Board expected to approve a no-objection certificate as they did with his decision to play for Canterbury.
Stokes is the second player to be dropped from the ODI squad after batsman Ben Duckett was sent home following his suspension for an incident at a bar in Perth, in which he poured a beer over the head of senior bowler James Anderson.
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