Allrounder Ben Stokes is set to be withdrawn from England’s ODI squad for the series in Australia, with batsman Dawid Malan his likely replacement.
Stokes is still waiting to hear if he will be charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for his role in an incident outside a club in Bristol, and though the ECB had picked him in the ODI squad in the first week of December, the board had said his selection was dependent on the outcome of the police investigation.
The incident – which also involved England batsman Alex Hales, who was not charged by police and therefore cleared for ODI selection – cost Stokes his place in the side for the last two ODIs against West Indies at the end of the English summer, and the ongoing Ashes in Australia. There has been no update on whether Stokes would be charged or not since.
Stokes was arrested in September on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm then released on bail. Avon and Somerset police had completed their investigation into the incident and passed a file onto the Crown Prosecution Service for advice on whether he should be charged. The police also confirmed that a 27-year-old man suffered a fractured eye socket in the incident which occurred outside the Mbargo nightclub in the Clifton area of the city on the evening of England’s one-day international against West Indies on September 25.
Stokes returned to competitive action by playing for Canterbury in the domestic one-day and T20 competitions in New Zealand in December, for which he was granted a no-objection certificate by the ECB.
The ODI series between Australia and England begins in Melbourne on January 14, after which the teams will play a T20I series before England embark on their tour of New Zealand.
