Ashes 2017/18: Ben Stokes leaves England plans in chaos after late-night arrest

At around 2.35am in the early hours of Monday morning at Mbargo, a bar in Bristol, he was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm after a 27-year-old man was left needing hospital treatment for facial injuries.

The details of the incident are not yet clear but it has thrown England’s Ashes planning into disarray.

After a trip to Bristol to speak to the all-rounder at the police station where Stokes spent the night after his arrest – although it should be stressed he has not been charged – England’s director of cricket Andrew Strauss cut a weary figure at the Oval. 

Given the fact that later in the afternoon the former captain sat in on the selection meeting for the Ashes squad, the timing could not have been worse, although Strauss insisted selection will be done on “fitness and form” and will proceed as expected with an announcement this morning.

The reality of Stokes being caught up in a late-night fracas casts a large shadow over England’s task this winter just over four weeks before they depart for Australia.

The importance of Stokes to the team cannot be stressed enough.

He is their best all-round player, probably their third-best batsman behind Joe Root and Alastair Cook and undoubtedly their best fielder. With him, they have a good chance in Australia; without him, they would undoubtedly struggle.

Stokes’ quality on the field is fuelled partly by God-given talent and partly by his ultra-competitive nature, but his career has also been punctuated with a series of disciplinary lapses.

He has fallen foul of the England hierarchy before in 2013, when he was sent back from an England Lions tour of Australia by coach Andy Flower after flouting rules on late-night drinking.

More recently on-field misdemeanours have left him one more demerit point away from an international ban, something opponents will be eager to exploit if it makes him miss crucial games.

The latest incident is disappointing for all concerned given that Stokes has matured hugely both on the field and off it. 

He has two children, he is getting married next month and he is Joe Root’s trusted vice-captain in the Test team.

He has produced his best cricket in the past two years, including his finest batting when scoring 258 against South Africa at Cape Town in January last year, followed by two Test and two ODI centuries this summer and his best Test bowling. 

Such performances have also brought him riches with a £700,000 England central contract, sponsorship deals worth up to seven figures and a one-off £1.7million contract for six weeks’ work in the Indian Premier League.

It is a profile that attracts envy and, added to the fact that Stokes likes a night out to let off steam, makes him a target.

Asked whether he drank alcohol during a Test in that interview at the weekend, he said: “We’re grown men, go out for dinner, have a few pints. I’m 26, not 14. I don’t have to drink Diet Cokes with dinner.” 

There has been no indication that Stokes will not be selected for the Ashes but Australia will lap up news of his arrest and it will ensure that every boundary loudmouth, on-field sledger and late-night boozer Down Under will be keen to target him. 

England will do everything they can to ensure he is in the right frame of mind, including offering sessions with the England team psychologist. Lawyers believe that even in the worst-case scenario of police finding evidence of, or witnesses to support, a charge of ABH there would almost certainly not be enough time to prepare a case before the team depart. 

But the arrest has piled a lot of unwanted stress on to England’s key performer, something Australians – never shy to share their poor opinion of Pommie players – will be keen to exploit. 

Whether Stokes could handle a situation like that and produce his best cricket is very much open to question. 

The answer is probably no.