London: Ben Stokes and Alex Hales will see their central contracts renewed by England this week but the former’s hopes of being part of the winter’s Ashes defence continue to hang in the balance.
Deals for England’s international teams that cover the 2017-18 period will be announced on Friday and though the pair remain suspended indefinitely pending the outcome of a police investigation into the early-hour altercation in Bristol 10 days ago, their status with the England and Wales Cricket Board remains unaffected.
With no cricketing reason to change their arrangements — and the ECB loath to pre-judge a police investigation into the incident during the one-day series with West Indies — Stokes will continue on both the top-level Test contract and its limited-overs equivalent, while Hales will remain on the latter.
This renewal is not unexpected and does not give any indication as to the chances of Stokes being part of the England squad that travels to Australia. The all-rounder, who was arrested at 2.35am on September 25 on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm, before being released under investigation, must first wait to discover whether he will be charged or not.
Only then can the ECB’s internal disciplinary proceedings begin. But Avon and Somerset police are not expecting the investigation to be completed for another two to three weeks — an appeal for two witnesses is yet to bear fruit — and so there will likely be just a few days for any sporting sanction to be decided before the team departs for Perth on 28 October.
Hales, who was present at the time of the incident and like Stokes has been interviewed under caution this week, is not part of England’s Ashes squad but any cricket punishment could affect his upcoming deal to play Twenty20 cricket in South Africa’s domestic tournament next month.
