Ben Stokes is currently counted amongst the best all rounders in the world. A player who is just as capable of taking 5 wickets or scoring a hundred every time he plays. He is the most expensive overseas player ever sold at an IPL auction.
At 27 years old, he has potentially many years of cricket ahead of him and has a chance to go down as one of the all time best to ever play and most certainly one of the all time best to play for England.
But, it could all have been so different. This chance could have been taken away from due to a scuffle between him and a couple of other people outside a nighclub in 2017.
The Event
In the wee hours of the morning on 25th September 2017, Ben Stokes was arrested for a street brawl outside a night club in the England town of Bristol and was subsequently released under investigation.
He was out with England team mate Alex Hales celebrating the team’s win over West Indies in the third ODI played on 24th September.
The news of his arrest, which when broke out, stunned the cricketing world. The details of exactly what went on were not known except for the fact that one of the men involved in the scuffle was knocked out unconscious and it was reported that Ben Stokes hit that person and was drunk on the night.
There were immediate consequences of his arrest. For one, he and team mate Hales were pulled out of the 4th ODI match against West Indies, while Ben Stokes was still injured by the time the 5th match was played.
It was during that time, that the team for the Ashes series scheduled for later in the year in Australia was picked. Ben Stokes’ name figured in the squad, however, he was subsequently removed from the team, pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.
There was further damage for Ben Stokes who in the aftermath of the incident also lost a personal sponsorship contract and the Vice captaincy of the England cricket team.
Criticism and Rumors
It came to light that Ben Stokes was involved in a fight with a couple of other people. While the legal proceedings were yet to determine who was guilty and who was not, or for that matter what exactly happened, Stokes did cop a lot of criticism.
He was an international cricketer and a role model, surely he should have been more careful. How much had he had to drink? Why was he out so late in the night while a cricket series was still going on? Was his behavior a result of his drunkenness? Did he break any team curfew that was in order during the series? These questions swirled around.
During this time, one of the Tabloids in the UK, the Sun, released a video footage that it claimed showed Ben Stokes punching two men.
It was during this time that another video emerged of Stokes mimicking another celebrity Katie Price’s disabled son. This led for Stokes to apologize for his actions via twitter.
But these videos started to dent his image and it was felt that perhaps he was the guilty party in the brawl.
This led to an inquisition of sorts of the behavior of England cricketers. Many in the media and former players came out questioning the drinking culture within the team and if it was over-done leading to players to lose control?
Certain events during the Ashes involving England players piled on the scrutiny of the off field behavior of the players.
During all this, another video emerged of Ben Stokes purportedly mocking two openly gay men on the night of the incident, near where the brawl took place.
How it went down
There was a police investigation that took place. It turned out to be an 11 month affair and reached its conclusion only on August 2018.
The night Ben Stokes was arrested, two other men were arrested along with him, a Ryan Ali and a Ryan Hale.
All three men were charged with causing Affray ( meaning – an instance of group fighting in a public place that disturbs the peace) by the police authorities. It carried a maximum punishment of up to 3 years in jail if someone was found guilty of affray.
The following emerged from the trial :
On the night of the Incident – Ben Stokes and Alex Hales went out to a club called Mbargo and had (in Ben’s own words) a bottle of beer after the match, two or three pints at their hotel and five or six vodka lemonades and then some Jaegerbombs in Mbargo. They left Mbargo shortly after midnight only to return after 2 am. by which time the place had closed for the night and both men were not allowed entry by the bouncer of the nightclub.
It was then that the two came across two openly gay men – Kai Barry and William O’conner – outside the premises and had a friendly banter going with them where Stokes admitted to mock the manner in which the duo spoke but only in a friendly way. There is a video on the internet which shows this interaction between them and at no point does it suggest Stokes becoming aggressive or anything untoward taking place. In fact the exchange takes place in good humour between these men.
The prosecutor of the case did mention that Stokes was quite upset by not being allowed to enter the night club again and it was this that set the tone for what was to follow. The bouncer of Mbargo who was outside the premises also mentioned that Stokes flicked a cigarette butt at the two men but this was denied by Stokes.
It was later on in the night that Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale turned up and started mocking the gay men in an aggressive manner and started saying homophobic words/phrases directed towards them.
Ben Stokes asked the two to stop doing that to which Ali, who had a bottle in his hand, asked Stokes not to interfere or he would ‘bottle him’.
Some distance away from the entry of the club, Ali and Hale continued to mock the two gay men and Ali even charged towards Barry with a bottle and hit him on the shoulder. It was at this point that Ben Stokes stepped in ( although his team mate Alex Hales advised him not to get into a scuffle) He approached Barry and O’connel to check up on them and asked Ali to stop. At this time, Ali came after Stokes
Stokes got into a fracas with Ali first, who had a bottle in his hand and swung it at him. Hale had a street sign that he got a hold off and grabbed and pulled Stokes off Ali.
This is when, in an attempt to protect himself that Ben stokes threw multiple punches at both men and caused them injury. He injured his hand too.
It was this version of the night’s events that the court agreed to and on August 14, 2018 – and as a result, cleared Ben Stokes of the charges of Affray. They went with what he stated, he was not the aggressor but was acting in self defense. Ali had a bottle, Hale had another object and in a aggressive frame of mind could have caused injury to Stokes if he had not retaliated in self defense. It was as a result of this that Ali was knocked out.
The verdict cleared the air and there was relief not just for Ben Stokes but for cricket lovers all around who did not wish to see his career nipped in the bud in such a manner.
It took 11 months for the decision to be reached at. While the court conducted its proceedings, the England board stalled its own disciplinary proceedings till such time.
This paved the way for Ben Stokes to return to the international cricketing fold and he was picked for the England team that toured New Zealand early in 2018.
He was also picked in the England team that faced India at home, though had to miss one of the test matches ( 2nd test) to be present for the Trial which started on August 6.
The court case done (and even though he was found not guilty) – The English cricket board charged Stokes with bringing the game into disrepute. In December 2018, the disciplinary commission announced that Ben Stokes was fined 30k pounds and would be banned for 8 matches from the time of the incident. By virtue of his time out of the game, Ben Stokes had already sat out 8 matches. One could understand their view point as in no way would they want their players to be involved in these kinds of incidents.
Sometimes when these events take place one wonders what exactly was the truth, even though all the facts are out there in plain sight.
Both the gay men that were mocked – Barry and O’conner – have gone on news channels to publicly thank Ben Stokes for going out of his way to defend them. They did not know who he was before that night, and for him too, they were strangers. They have clearly stated that Stokes did no wrong and was not the provoker or aggressor that night. This also laid to bed the story that Ben Stokes mocked them or made fun of them in a derogatory manner, in-stead, the banter between them was all in good humour.
Another indicator that Ben Stokes was not the guilty party at the incident was the reaction of the England cricket board which changed over time.
Immediately after the incident in August 2017, Ben Stokes was removed from the Ashes squad. But, with time, the board’s stance towards him changed. He was sent to New Zealand while the ashes series was on to get some match practice during the England winter and was subsequently drafted in to the squad that toured the country. He was later part of the India series as well.
Cricket boards around the world do not let players guilty of wrong doing anywhere near their national teams ( think Mohammed Azharuddin and Salim Malik just to name two) but here was the English board welcoming him back into the team, surely they would not take this risk, if there was even the slightest of chance of him being found guilty.
Ben Stokes did pay a price though. We have already mentioned that he lost a personal sponsorship and the vice captaincy of the team. Even though he is back in the team, as of December 2018, he has not regained his leadership position yet. He missed out on the Ashes and could only watch from the sidelines as his team was beaten. On his return too, it was not as if he set the field alight with his performances. Some say, he is yet to re-discover his best.
What he did was indeed heroic, to go out of his way to protect two virtual strangers was commendable and as its said all’s well that end’s well. Thank god it did.
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