Ben Stokes might miss third Test against India as his trial continues

Hosts England have to manage more time without their ace all-rounder Ben Stokes if the latter’s trial in court over a brawl in a nightclub that happened in Bristol last September continues longer. The trial started on Monday, August 6, making Stokes unavailable for the second Test match against India beginning Thursday, August 9, at Lord’s.

According to a Daily Mail report, the 27-year-old cricketer may even miss the third Test at Trent Bridge starting August 18. Stokes found himself in the middle of an ugly spat with a number people in and around the nightclub last year and could face a punishment. The prosecutor said the cricketer lost his self-control and knocked two men out of their consciousness. He was also accused of misbehaving with two gay men and a doorman at the nightclub after being denied entry.

The prosecutor also called Stokes as a man ‘of promise’ and a ‘professional cricket player who has reached the top of his profession and represented his country’. Stokes was suspended after the incident and missed the Ashes series in Australia last year which England lost 0-4. The English cricket board allowed his recall for the subsequent series against New Zealand when he had pleaded not guilty to affray – legally defined as a fight between two or more persons in a public place to cause terror to the public.

In the ongoing series versus India, though England found a replacement for Stokes in Chris Woakes for the Lord’s Test and their coach Trevor Bayliss said that he wasn’t worried over the all-rounder’s absence, the hosts would have liked to get Stokes in their ranks in the remaining four Tests against India.

Stokes came into the thick of action in the second innings of the first Test by picking four Indian wickets, including that of in-form Virat Kohli, to derail the visitors’ chase for 194 to win the game. The ongoing trial is expected to last between five to seven days.

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