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Ben Stokes Arrest: England Ashes Campaign Off To Horror Start

Stokes was detained in Bristol.
Ben Stokes has been released after being detained by police.
Jason Cairnduff / Reuters
Ben Stokes has been released after being detained by police.

England's Ashes campaign has been thrown into disarray after all-rounder Ben Stokes was arrested after a nightclub incident in the city of Bristol, in the UK's southwest.

Stokes was detained on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm in the late-night incident at the city's Mbargo club, but was later released without charge.

The altercation reportedly left another man needing hospital treatment for facial injuries.

Following the arrest, the England and Wales Cricket Board said the 26-year-old would not be available for the national team's fourth one-day international against the West Indies.

The arrest has rapidly fuelled speculation that Stokes could be sanctioned, or left out of the touring group for the upcoming Ashes series in Australia, in what would be a huge blow to England's campaign before it has even begun.

England is due to name a 16-player squad for the five-test series in Australia on Wednesday.

However, England team director Andrew Strauss suggested that Stokes would not be left out on disciplinary grounds, according to The Telegraph.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan weighed in on the incident, urging Stokes to change his lifestyle in the wake of the arrest.

"I am not saying be teetotal or not have a flutter at the casino. He needs a way to let off steam and live a life. But on the field he is a streetwise cricketer. He understands the game. He gets cricket," Vaughan wrote in the UK's Daily Telegraph.

"But he is not streetwise off the pitch and that could be his downfall."

The prodigiously-talented Stokes has a troubled disciplinary history. He was sent home from an England tour after breaking curfew in 2013 and broke his hand striking a locker in 2014.

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