Ben Stokes: Video allegedly shows England cricket star in street fight to put his Ashes series hopes in doubt
Video footage emerges on the same day that Stokes is named in England's Ashes squad
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A video allegedly showing England cricket player Ben Stokes throwing punches while fighting with two men in a street has emerged, two days after he was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm.
Stokes, who was released without charge pending further investigation, was named in England’s Ashes squad on Wednesday morning despite the alleged incident in Bristol.
The Sun have obtained a video from a camera phone that shows a man, alleged to be Stokes, and three others that he appears to be with, being confronted by two others in the street. One of two not with Stokes is seen to be carrying a bottle, before a brawl breaks out and the group starts fighting.
The man alleged to be Stokes starts to grapple with another on the floor, before throwing a series of punches both on the floor and once he has got back to his feet. One such punch leaves the person struck on the floor. A 27-year-old was later taken to hospital with facial injuries, Avon and Somerset police confirmed earlier this week.
Stokes suffered a fractured finger in the alleged incident and could be stripped of the England vice-captaincy following an internal England and Wales Cricket Board review, which director of cricket Andrew Strauss confirmed on Wednesday.
Following the release of the video late on Wednesday night, the ECB issued a statement that read: “We have seen this footage for the first time tonight - when posted by The Sun.
“There is an ongoing police investigation, which will look at all available evidence, and we do have to respect that process.”
The alleged incident took place at around 2:35am in Bristol following the third One-Day International between England and the West Indies, with Stokes joined by a number of teammates including Alex Hales, Jake Ball and James Anderson – who was working for Sky Sports as an analyst for the game.
Both Stokes and Hales were dropped for England’s fourth ODI victory over the West Indies on Wednesday, with the latter returning to Bristol to help police with their inquiries.
After naming Stokes in the Ashes squad that will face Australia this winter, coach Trevor Bayliss labelled the incident “very unprofessional” and said that it was not acceptable for his players to be going on night’s out drinking during a series.
Before the video was released, Strauss said: “All we can do is deal with what we know and what we are in control of.
“We have no idea how things will pan out, and it would be wrong for us to second-guess that in any way.
“There is a disciplinary protocol in place as part of (the players') condition of employment - we need to follow that.
“They may be subject to disciplinary proceedings, including Ben."