Ben Stokes found not guilty of affray [Update Post #508]

[Saj]

England's Ben Stokes and Alex Hales will face a disciplinary hearing this week after being charged with bringing the game into disrepute by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

It follows an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September 2017.

All-rounder Stokes, 27, denied a charge of affray and was found not guilty in August, while batsman Hales, 29, was not charged.

The Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) will meet on Wednesday and Friday.

Stokes and Hales are charged with two counts of breaching an ECB directive which states: "No-one may conduct themself in a manner or do any act or omission at any time which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket, or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute."

Stokes and Hales will attend the hearing, which will be held in private by a three-man panel of chairman and former Derbyshire player Tim O'Gorman, Chris Tickle and Mike Smith.

The CDC, which is funded by the ECB but operates independently, has a range of sanctions it could hand down, including:

Caution as to future conduct
Reprimand
Fine without limit
Suspension of eligibility to play in any match(es) or for any fixed period
Suspension of eligibility for selection to play for England in any match(es) or for any fixed period
Suspension (for any period) or termination of registration

The Bristol incident, in which Stokes became involved in a street brawl, occurred several hours after England had played a one-day international against West Indies at the County Ground.

Durham's Stokes and Nottinghamshire Hales, who was present at the incident, were referred to the CDC by then ECB director of cricket Andrew Strauss in September 2017.

The hearing was put on hold until the criminal case was over.

Stokes was made unavailable for selection for last winter's Ashes tour, when England were beaten 4-0 by Australia.

He missed the second Test against India at Lord's this summer because of his trial but returned for the third.

Stokes has played 49 Tests since making his debut in 2013, as well as 75 ODIs and 23 Twenty20 internationals.

Hales has played 11 Tests, 67 ODIs and 57 T20s.

England face West Indies in a three-Test series starting on 23 January, followed by five ODIs and three T20s.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/46445379

 

[Abdullah719]

ECB release

Cricket Discipline Commission – Alex Hales and Ben Stokes

The CDC Disciplinary Panel today announced its decisions in cases brought against Ben Stokes and Alex Hales. The reasons for these decisions will be released in due course.

Both players were charged with two breaches of ECB Directive 3.3. Both players admitted each charge. The Panel held a separate hearing for each player and considered each charge individually.

Alex Hales

In respect of the first charge, relating to the incident in Bristol, the Panel imposes a suspension from playing for England for four white ball matches. It is accepted that Mr Hales has already missed two of these matches.

The remaining two matches will be suspended for a period of 12 months from the date of the hearing.

The Panel also imposes a fine of £7,500, of which £4,500 is suspended for a period of 12 months from the date of the hearing.

If Mr Hales commits any further serious breach of cricketing regulations within that 12 month period then at the discretion of the CDC the suspended elements of this penalty will be imposed.


In respect of the second charge, relating to inappropriate images, the Panel imposes a suspension of playing for England for two white ball matches. This penalty is suspended for 12 months from the date of the hearing.

The Panel also imposes a fine of £10,000, of which £5,500 is suspended for a period of 12 months from the date of the hearing.

As a condition of the suspension of elements of this penalty Mr Hales must undertake, at his own cost and within three months, appropriate training, as agreed and approved by the ECB. If he does not do so, or if he commits any further serious breach of cricketing regulations within that 12 month period then at the discretion of the CDC the suspended elements of this penalty will be imposed.

These penalties will apply cumulatively. Therefore, in total Mr Hales receives a six match ban from England white ball matches, of which two matches have already been missed and four remain are suspended. He therefore remains eligible for immediate selection. Mr Hales is fined a total of £17,500, of which £10,000 is suspended.

The Panel makes no order as to costs. Each party will bear their own costs.

Ben Stokes

In respect of the first charge, relating to the incident in Bristol, the Panel imposes a ban from playing for England for six matches. It is accepted that Mr Stokes has already missed these matches.

The Panel also imposes a fine of £15,000.

In respect of the second charge, relating to the inappropriate video, the Panel imposes a ban of playing for England for two matches. It is accepted that Mr Stokes has already missed these matches.

The Panel also imposes a fine of £15,000 which should be paid to a suitable charity or charities.

These penalties apply cumulatively. Therefore, in total Mr Stokes receives an eight match ban from England matches. He has already missed these matches and therefore remains eligible for immediate selection. Mr Stokes is fined a total of £30,000.

The Panel makes no order as to costs. Each party will bear their own costs.

In reaching these decisions the Disciplinary Panel took into account the complex circumstances surrounding these events including the considerable legal expenses already incurred by both players.

 

[Abdullah719]

Tom Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of the ECB, said:

“We accept the decisions made by the Cricket Discipline Commission and the sanctions they have given to Alex Hales and Ben Stokes.

“Each pleaded guilty, admitted their charges and has accepted their sanctions.

“They will now be available to play for England, with the same support as all of our players.

“Today is a very strong reminder of the values that sit at the heart of our game and the standards that should always be expected.”

 

[Robert]

That's tougher than I would have expected on Stokes.

Anyway both have learned, taken it on the chin and can put it behind them and move on.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Ben Stokes in the news again for all the wrong reasons - in his defence his wife claims that they were just play acting. Doesn't look very playful to me.

The Professional Cricketers’ Association Awards Fiftieth Anniversary party was held last Wednesday at the Roundhouse in Camden. Cricketers and the sports journalists that cover them were in attendance. Ben Stokes was there with his wife, Clare Ratcliffe.

The evening began happily enough for the couple, enjoying a drink at the bar, chatting with a mate, everything was fine. Then something happens and Clare tells Ben she doesn’t want to hear it, speak to the hand. They go off to a side room and a row starts, anyone at the event couldn’t be unaware of something going on. All of sudden Stokes grabs his wife Clare in a chokehold and then she either falls back, pulls away or is pushed back by him. The couple left the event minutes later…

https://order-order.com/2019/10/08/ben-stokes-choked-wife/

 

[HitWicket]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Unbelievable what nonsense these people will make up! Me and Ben messing about squishing up each other’s faces cos that’s how we show affection and some pap tries to twist it in to a crazy story! And all before we then have a romantic McDonalds 20 mins later! <a href="https://twitter.com/benstokes38?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benstokes38</a> <a href="https://t.co/1HmPV1ZfxG">pic.twitter.com/1HmPV1ZfxG</a></p>— Clare Stokes (@clarey_11) <a href="https://twitter.com/clarey_11/status/1181595487427858438?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Abdullah719]

Tom Harrison, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board said: "We have spoken with both Clare and Ben - as well as others in attendance - who have all clarified the innocent context behind the still photographs taken at last week’s PCA Awards. Whilst it is not the case here, we recognise that for the millions who are impacted by domestic violence, this is a very real and serious issue."

 

[TeamPak95]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Unbelievable what nonsense these people will make up! Me and Ben messing about squishing up each other’s faces cos that’s how we show affection and some pap tries to twist it in to a crazy story! And all before we then have a romantic McDonalds 20 mins later! <a href="https://twitter.com/benstokes38?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benstokes38</a> <a href="https://t.co/1HmPV1ZfxG">pic.twitter.com/1HmPV1ZfxG</a></p>— Clare Stokes (@clarey_11) <a href="https://twitter.com/clarey_11/status/1181595487427858438?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

If this was Pakistani news, the Pak player would've been torn apart for having McDonalds and being criticized for having an unhealthy diet.

 

[MenInG]

Ben Stokes responds after Mitchell Johnson mocks England cricket ‘p*** take’

Ben Stokes has hit back at former Australian cricket star Mitchell Johnson for mocking England after it was revealed captain Joe Root and Co. won’t be shaking hands on their tour of Sri Lanka.

Root, who addressed the issue of the coronavirus this week as his team prepared to depart for its two-Test tour, says instead the players will greet each other with fist bumps.

In a post on his Instagram story, fast bowler Johnson clipped England for its “p*** take” and also sledged Stokes, referencing the all-rounder’s infamous night out in Bristol where he was charged by police after a street brawl before being acquitted.

Over the top of a news article explaining England’s decision to avoid handshakes, Johnson wrote: “Is this a p*** take? You can jam your fist pump England hahahaha just be careful though, Stokesy might react with a sucker punch.”

Stokes responded with a jab of his own, referencing a famous Barmy Army chant that was widely sung during Johnson’s disastrous 2009 Ashes series to make fun of his erratic bowling.

Stokes tweeted: “Bowls to the left bowls to the right I wonder if big bad Mitch likes Marmite.”

The threat of illness is a sensitive issue for England, who was hit by a series of gastroenteritis and flu problems before and during the first Test on its recent tour of South Africa.

“After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum and we’ve been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria,” Root said.

“We are not shaking hands with each other, using instead the well-established fist bump, and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the anti-bacterial wipes and gels we’ve been given in our immunity packs.

“There is no suggestion that the tour will be affected, but of course it is an evolving situation so we are in regular contact with the authorities and will proceed as advised, but at this stage we fully expect the tour to continue as planned.”

England won 3-0 in Sri Lanka two years ago but Root is anticipating a tougher challenge this time.

“The conditions will be a bit different with the time of year we are going this time,” he said.

“The three games we played out there last time were all very close with less than 60 runs between the teams in the last two Tests.

“It was an exceptional performance last time and I think we can take a lot of confidence from that in terms of how to play out there.

“We respect how good a side they are in their own conditions and we’ll find ourselves up against a stiff challenge.”

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...e/news-story/3bd780e73d01d5c4f1d38c43a2100984