Ben Stokes England return delayed as court date clashes with T20 series

Ben Stokes’s England return will be delayed once again after he was summoned to court on the same day he was expected to play for England in New Zealand.

Stokes and two other men, Ryan Hale and Ryan Ali, have been called to appear at Bristol Magistrates Court on Feb 13 to answer charges of affray following an incident in Bristol in the early hours of Sept 25.

England are due to play New Zealand in Wellington on Feb 13, the first game that Stokes was available for selection after the England & Wales Cricket Board lifted his suspension on Wednesday.

Now his return will be delayed, probably until the start of the ODI series in Hamilton on Feb 25 at the earliest. England may well opt to hold him back for longer, perhaps when the two Test series starts in Auckland on March 22.

Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, speaking before the court date was announced, indicated that Stokes will not walk straight back into a white ball team that has plenty of depth already. Much will depend on results between now and then. England have four more one-day games in Australia, with the second ODI due to start at the Gabba tomorrow morning, and two T20s in Hobart and Melbourne before flying to New Zealand for the second leg of the winter.

Before his arrest last year Stokes was the most valuable player across all three formats. He will walk straight back into the Test team which is struggling for consistency but in one-day cricket England are strong and making him wait for a return would also send a message that he  cannot take his international place for granted.

“It’s been one of the reasons that we have been successful in the one-day game because we have more than 11 blokes competing for 11 spots,” said Bayliss. “In the Test team we haven’t had more than 11 competing. That’s good for English cricket going forward when you have that pressure from within competing for spots. It’ll be a difficult decision. The other one is – is he up to speed and will he be right, in a good enough space from a playing point of view to make it back into the team having not played for so long?

“If we play well in these next four games and we win it might be very very difficult for him to come straight back in. In the last couple of years you probably wouldn’t have been able to say that but where this team have got to – this one day team – is a great position to be in.”

The next decision for Bayliss is whether to retrain Stokes as Test vice-captain. He still faces charges from the ECB’s cricket discipline commission for professional negligence. He hurt his hand in the incident that led to his arrest and that injury would have put him out of England’s warm up games in Australia before the first Ashes Test had he been able to travel, enough in itself to warrant being sacked as vice-captain.

The ECB will have to provide extra security for Stokes if and when he leaves the hotel at night in New Zealand and closely monitor who is around him.

Bayliss believes the midnight curfew brought in on the Ashes tour has worked

“The last time I spoke to him he certainly understands why (he was not picked for Australia),” said Bayliss.  “The rest of the other players understand why and over the last few months I think the players have learnt a bit of a lesson.”

Stokes was yesterday named in the ICC’s Test and ODI teams of 2017, one of only four players to make it into both sides so understandably his England team-mates are thrilled he will be back in less than a month’s time.

“Absolutely delighted that he is going to be playing again soon. I'm delighted for him and delighted for us as a side,” said Jos Buttler. “He's obviously one of the best players in the world and having him come back into our team is fantastic for us and I think as a fan of cricket it is fantastic that he is going to be back playing.

“I think anyone who has come across Ben will know that if there is ever a guy who will be able to manage these kind of things and come out of the other side of it very well it is Ben. We're a tight group of guys and a lot of us will have an arm round his shoulder, not that he will need it, but we'll fully support him and look forward to seeing some amazing performances from him back on the pitch.”

Buttler believes Stokes has got the message about on field behaviour. “Definitely, as international cricketers we understand that we're under a lot of scrutiny and media interest and public interest," he he said. “It is down to individuals to be really aware of that and we have to be great ambassadors for our game

"Everyone is very much aware of their responsibilities as an England cricketer.”

“Happy he's been made available, players and coaches are looking forward to seeing him,” said Bayliss in Brisbane this morning. “He's raring to go, he's a cricketer first and foremost and he just wants to be out on the field playing. He understands the reasons why he hasn't been playing, same as the team and management, but he's looking forward to getting back on the park.

“They (other players) are looking forward to seeing him, he's a very popular member of the team and the squad. I'm sure they'll welcome him back with open arms. It was certainly something we'd much rather not have to deal with. But all credit to the players, once the game came around they were fully focused on playing. I've got admiration for those guys that they were able to see past that and get on the with the cricket.”