To stoke the rumor mill further, England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been granted a no-objection certificate (NOC) to play for the Canterbury side in the New Zealand domestic season. However, English Cricket Board (ECB) released a statement saying that Stokes is making a private trip to New Zealand.
The buzz around a possible return of Stokes to the Ashes was set anew after he was seen at the Heathrow Airport late on Monday. England’s premium all-rounder was not included in the Ashes squad after he was arrested on September 25 following accusations of Actual Bodily Harm in the wake of an altercation outside a nightclub in Bristol. However, he remains under investigation and according to the ECB code of conduct cannot play for England.
England, on the other hand, need Stokes to add some spine in their bowling lineup after they lost the first Ashes test by 10 wickets. Rumor mill was constantly fueled by reports that ECB is mulling abou fast tracking Stokes in the lineup. A statement from Canterbury Cricket confirmed that they had “been in initial informal discussions with Ben Stokes’ representatives regarding his potential availability for Ford Trophy and Burger King Super Smash cricket.”
Hearing that Stokesy’s at Heathrow…
— Phil Walker (@Phil_Wisden) November 27, 2017
“The CCA Board and New Zealand Cricket will independently be considering this issue in the near future but, until then, we are unable to provide any more detail on the status of the deliberations,” Jeremy Curwin, the CEO of Canterbury Cricket, said. “As and when there are any further developments we will of course release further statements.”
Strauss who is the Director Cricket of ECB said that the ECB is waiting for the police to make a charging decision and, until that happens, nothing has changed. “We’re in the same situation as we have been for quite a long time now,” he said.
I have a funny feeling @benstokes38 is jumping on an A380 heading to Oz! #ashes
— Matt Prior (@MattPrior13) November 27, 2017
“There are certain procedural things that have taken place but there is a process that can only kick in once we’ve heard a charging decision from the police. We’re relatively clear in our minds what the procedure is from here and the start is the police coming out with their charging decision and, until that happens, we can’t move forward,” he said.
