Ben Stokes and Alex Hales won’t be considered for England selection

In the wake of the recent events in English cricket, it has been reported that Ben Stokes and Alex Hales won’t be considered for England selection until further notice. Both the cricketers were involved in the street brawl outside a bar in Bristol in the early hours of Monday morning. Stokes was arrested on the suspicion of causing bodily harm in the drunken incident and was in a jail for the overnight. He was also released later in the day without any charges but the things got worse on Wednesday when the video footage of the brawl was revealed by ‘The Sun’.

In the footage, the all-rounder could be seen punching a couple of guys one of whom appeared to have a bottle in his hand. Hales was also with him during the incident but in the video, he was seen initially hitting one of the guys and when it appeared that things were getting out of hand he was trying to hold Stokes back. However, both missed the 4th ODI of the 5-match series against Windies on Wednesday. While Hales was assisting the police with their enquiries regarding the case, Stokes was under the investigation in the case.

David Malan called up to the ODI squad

The selectors have called up Dawid Malan to replace Hales in the ODI squad in the ongoing ODI series against the Caribbean side. Sam Billings too will continue to be with the team who was called in as cover for Stokes for the fourth game. The duo will not be considered for selection till the police investigation is underway but will be on pay.

ECB’s team director Andrew Strauss will initiate an inquiry into the case against the two cricketers to the Cricket Discipline Commission, headed by Tim O’Gorman.

“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,” a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) read on September 28.

“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,” it further stated.