London: England star all-rounder Ben Stokes is likely to miss the Ashes series after police said they wanted to re-interview him following the emergence of a video allegedly showing him punching a man to the ground. Fellow England cricketer Alex Hales will also be questioned by police after the video appeared to show him kicking a man on the ground.
Both players have been suspended by the England management board until further notice, following an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in the early hours of Monday morning.
It means Stokes is unlikely to feature in the Ashes series, which begins next month in Australia.
The 26-year-old was arrested following the fight, which left one 27-year-old man requiring hospital treatment for a facial injury.
Hales was initially spoken to by police as a witness. But sources said he would now be questioned under caution, after a video published by The Sun appeared to show a man, who is believed to be Hales, apparently kicking someone in the head as he lay on the ground.
Stokes, who was released under police investigation on Monday, will also be re-interviewed about his part in the alleged attack.
It is not clear what sparked the incident, which took place outside the Mbargo nightclub at 2.35am, but sources suggested trouble had flared when the England cricketers intervened in a homophobic row.
A barman at a nearby pub claimed he and a group of friends had been confronted by some men in nearby Park Street, shortly before the alleged brawl took place. He said: “This group of lads approached us. They were really hyped up. There were five or six of them and they were making comments about our clothes.”
Sources close to the England cricket team claimed trouble had flared up when Stokes and Hales attempted to calm down a situation in which homophobic comments were being made by a group of males to two other men.
Sources said Avon and Somerset Police were treating the incident as affray and would be speaking to the other men involved, one of whom appeared to be wielding a bottle.
The footage appears to show a man, believed to be Stokes, knocking the bottle from the man’s hand and grappling with him on the pavement, before punching one man and slapping another. Stokes, who fractured his hand during the incident, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm.
A statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board said: “Ben Stokes and Alex Hales will not be considered for selection for England international matches until further notice. Each remains on full pay pending further ECB investigation and the ongoing police investigation into an incident in Bristol in the early hours of Monday.”
Stokes was named in the Ashes squad on Wednesday as England’s vice-captain but both his trip to Australia and his job as Joe Root’s deputy are now on the line.
It is understood the footage was filmed by a student on his mobile phone from his flat overlooking the scene. He had reportedly been disturbed by the sound of raised voices and swearing at around 2.30am.
