Ben Stokes

[goodgoalie]

Anyone else think it's really strange that Ben Stokes is free to play for England now he's been charged with affray, but was NOT allowed to play in the Ashes when he hadn't been charged with anything? Crazy!

[fiction-factory]

Yes. I can't see the logic either. Maybe the ECB want to reduce the chances of another series defeat

[andy-hughes]

It is strange, but when you have a talented player whose presence has obviously been missed, then you can overlook the niceties of legal process in order to allow him to tour.

He may be hauled home to face court, but that is a risk the selectors are willing to face it seems.

Personally, since he is innocent until proven guilty, he should either have been selected previously, and therefore be available now, or not been selected, for whatever reason the selectors want to offer, and therefore not available now.

[mikey4444]

I agree GG....surely he must be suspended until after his trial ?

[mikey4444]

I may be wrong here but would somebody who has been accused of an serious offence normally be allowed to leave the country ?

[goodgoalie]

The whole affair is very odd. It would have made more sense for him to have been allowed to play in the Ashes (and MUCH better for the England team!) when he had not been charged, and then told he can't play now, now he has been charged. He's innocent unless/until something is proven against him: why did it take so long to decide to bring a charge?

[jno]

they didn't want him in the Ashes because of the possibility that the old bill would march onto the field and drag him away during a match. This proved to be groundless: the old bill is nothing like that swift.

Now he's been charged the time frame is much clearer. He's going to plead not guilty, so there's no chance the case will go ahead during the rest of the tour.

Meantime, he's innocent until proven guilty, so I can't see any reason for him not to play. If his masters on the cricket board wanted to inflict a penalty of their own for bringing the game into disrepute or something, they've already done so. He not only missed the Ashes, he dodged a bullet.