Video emerges of cricketer Ben Stokes in alleged brawl
Vision has emerged of Ben Stokes allegedly involved in a fight on Sunday. Photo: Getty
England vice-captain Ben Stokes’ Ashes campaign is in serious doubt after video emerged allegedly showing the cricketer in a wild street brawl outside a Bristol nightclub.
It comes after the New Zealand-born all-rounder was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm and released without charge on Monday.
The 26-year-old remains under investigation.
The minute-long video shows a man, believed to be Stokes, throwing a number of punches at one man and knocking out another.
Watch the altercation below:
This is series of 4’s&6 from @benstokes38 .. What a power #hookshot pic.twitter.com/A3ew84RTw2
— பாலாஜி வெங்கடேசன் (@itzbalaji) September 28, 2017
The footage begins with one man appearing to provoke Stokes and lashing out with a glass bottle at a member of the cricketer’s party.
A visibly angry Stokes responds and grabbles the man to the footpath before appearing to throw a punch and fall to the pavement himself.
As the altercation continues, Stokes appears to lose control despite pleas from a bystander believed to be fellow cricketer Alex Hales yelling, “Stokes, enough!”
Stokes follows the man down the street before dropping him down to the ground with a vicious right hand.
The man raised his arms – pleading Stokes to stop – before being left prone on the road.
Stokes threw 15 punches in the altercation and reportedly broke a finger in his right hand during the incident.
His place in the Ashes squad could now be in jeopardy, despite being named as Joe Root’s deputy on Wednesday.
England team director Andrew Strauss had launched his own internal investigation into Sunday’s wild brawl before the footage came to light, The Telegraph reported.
Meanwhile, England coach Trevor Bayliss has described the circumstances which led to Stokes’ arrest in Bristol early on Monday as “very unprofessional”.
The England and Wales Cricket Board refused to comment.
“We have seen this footage for the first time tonight – when posted by The Sun,” a spokesperson said.
“There is an ongoing Police investigation, which will look at all available evidence, and we do have to respect that process.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan defended Stokes in two now-deleted tweets.
“Seen the video of [Stokes]. It’s not good. But I would like to know why the kid swings a bottle at the start !?” Vaughan said.
“The video is awful viewing. [Stokes] shouldn’t be in that position. But was he reacting & protecting 2 people from a random attack!”
One tweet referencing Stokes did remain public, with Vaughan calling it “a complete and utter F Up”.
What a complete and utter F Up ……
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 27, 2017
In an interview published just before the alleged altercation occurred, Stokes told The Times UK he would “never get close to punching someone” and spoke about whether he would seek help for his anger management.
“We have a team psychologist available on match days but I haven’t spoken to him about it lately,” he said. “But yeah, I have to make sure I keep a lid on it.”
“I maybe just need to channel it in a different way,” he added.
-with AAP
