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It’s ten weeks since the then-England-vice-captain Ben Stokes had his punch-up outside a Bristol tavern in the early hours of the morning.
He was arrested and spent the rest of the night behind bars.
The arrest sheet was for allegedly punching another tavern drinker.
CCTV footage had Stokes – or at least someone who looked an awful lot like him – landing 15 punches in a minute. But it’s taken the Avon and Somerset police ten weeks to hand their findings to a higher authority to decide if any charges will be laid.
What a farce.
The Avon and Somerset police must be the only ones in England who have no idea there’s an Ashes series on, and Stokes is a key player.
Former England skipper Andrew Strauss, the Director of Cricket, suspended Stokes until the police decision on charges, but Stokes was the only one who showed any vision whatsoever by high-tailing to his birthplace – Christchurch, New Zealand – to visit his family.
Not only was he away from the Strauss suspension, but Canterbury is quite happy to play him in a limited-overs game this weekend.
Not only will Stokes get a game for the first time in ten weeks thanks to police doddering, but he’s 20 hours closer to joining the England team if Strauss lifts his suspension.
And England sure need him.
If the higher authorities also dither on possible charges, it’ll be months before the case is heard, and the Ashes will be done and dusted.
(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
So it all boils down to what the obvious original decision should have been with Ben Stokes on the Heathrow departing plane for Perth with his teammates.
But there’s no doubt Stokes, at 26, is running out of discipline rope.
He’s been a first-class cricketer since he debuted for Surrey at 18, so he’s never known anything but cricket since he left school.
Having a wallet stuffed with high denomination notes, and plenty of spare time to hardly make a dent in those notes led to the obvious shortcomings.
In 2011, he made his drinking debut versus police in Durham, in 2013 he was sent home from an England Lions tour of Australia for flouting tour drink rules. In 2014, he smashed his locker door after being run out first ball in Antigua, fracturing his hand, and was sent home.
And in 2016, he was threatened with jail time if he broke the speed limit again in the next six months.
Throw in umpire warnings after on-field clashes with Marlon Samuels, Virat Kohli, and Sabbir Rahman, and Stokes is a firebrand who does not learn from his mistakes.
There have been calls to rub him out of the game altogether, but it would be better for everybody if he suddenly grew up and consistently played the elite all-round cricket he’s very capable of playing.
The Australians did that with Ricky Ponting early in his career when he freely admitted he had a drinking problem.
Ponting was dropped three times after big nights out, but to his credit, he turned the corner to play a huge role in Australian cricket, especially as captain.
In 2013, David Warner punched Joe Root in an early morning drinking fracas in England and was dropped.
The Warner of today has become a world-class cricketer, and vice-captain of his country – he too has changed from a volatile cricketer to an ambassador.
It’s up to Ben Stokes to do the same, or buy a fish and chips shop.