Ben Stokes and Alex Hales To Revisit Events Of Bristol As ECB Hearing Begins
Updated - 04 Dec 2018, 05:12 PM
The late-night brawl involving Ben Stokes and Alex Hales in Bristol in September 2017 – will come up once again as England Cricket Board’s Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) will consider whether Hales and Stokes have brought the game into disrepute.
Meanwhile, when ECB had tried to underline their credentials as family sports, they were damaging in every way. An independent Cricket Discipline Commission was asked to lead an internal disciplinary into last September’s incident after Stokes was found not guilty of affray following a seven-day trial last month.
For that reason, the CDC – which claims to be an entity independent of influence from the ECB or beyond – has assembled an especially experienced panel and permitted legal representation for the players; something it says will do only in “the most exceptional case” in its regulations.
Furthermore, the three-person panel comprises of highly-respected lawyers with a cricket background. One of them will be the former Derbyshire batsman, Tim O’Gorman. He is now general counsel for Halfords Group and chairs this panel. The second one will be the former Gloucestershire and England swing bowler Mike Smith, who is now an employment lawyer. The last man will be the judge, Chris Tickle, who was a long-time member of the Warwickshire committee.
However, the case will now be heard and hopefully concluded over two days this week
Alex Hales will appear before the panel on Wednesday morning, and Ben Stokes will appear later on the same day. A verdict – and the announcement of any potential sanctions (fine and bans are both possible) – is also expected on Friday.
In addition to, this might not be the end of the matter. Both, Ben Stokes and Alex Hales along with ECB – retain the right to appeal the CDC verdict. The duo had earlier struggled to explain why they were at the bar in the early hours of the morning. It was during the midway of a limited-overs series against the Windies.
Moreover, if there are any suspensions, Ben Stokes and Alex Hales might play cricket under the direct authority of ECB. This means they will not be able to play any franchise based cricket. They are likely to be barred from appearing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). So there is plenty for the panel to consider and plenty at stake.
