Top 10 cricketing controversies of the decade

The Ben Stokes brawl and the arrest

Two days after England won the second ODI against England, Ben Stokes was involved in a brawl in Bristol. Stokes was along with England teammate Alex Hales but only the former was arrested for throwing punches at two men in the brawl outside a bar. It was on that day only Stokes became England’s Test vice-captain before the ECB had to withdraw his name from the Ashes squad which England eventually lost 0-4.

However, a month later, the two men claimed that Stokes had come to their rescue and had he not intervened things might’ve been worse. The investigation was still on and Stokes wasn’t eligible to play for England. It was shut in November end and Stokes headed to New Zealand to play domestic cricket.

It was in February that the all-rounder made a return to international cricket. In August 2018, he attended the hearing where he was found not guilty and the case came to an end. It was a torrid 12 months for Stokes who missed quite a bit of cricket due to this one incident.