Ben Stokes plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. – R. RAGU
Ben Stokes, the England and Rajasthan Royals all-rounder, has revealed that the brawl he was involved in in a bar in Bristol in September 2017 has changed his lifestyle.
Stokes was found not guilty of affray by the Bristol Crown Court in August 2018, and in December, the Discipline Commission of the England and Wales Cricket Board held a hearing and concluded his 15-month exile.
“It sounds silly, but could Bristol have been the best thing that could have happened to me? Who knows. But maybe in terms of my way of thinking,” Stokes told ESPNcricinfo during a visit to a children’s charity here.
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Stokes is determined to win the Cricket World Cup 2019 for England. “I don’t want to be remembered as the guy who fought in the street. I want to do things on the field to be remembered for. If we win the World Cup, that becomes the first paragraph… doesn’t it?”
He added: “I was that close to my career ending and being thrown away just like that. Maybe that is it.”
Due to the incident, Stokes missed the 2017-18 Ashes series in Australia as the ECB suspended him pending an investigation by the police. “No matter what happens in life with me now, the Bristol thing will always be there. It’s something I’ll always carry with me. It’ll always be there. Always,” Stokes said.
He revealed he doesn’t go out for long night-outs anymore. “I don’t go out anymore. I mean, I might go out for dinner, but I don’t go out out (for long nights) anymore in England. I used to love going out and celebrating with the lads. But we can do that in the hotel, and I won’t miss it. I don’t feel that urge anymore. Once you transition to not doing it,, you don’t miss it,” Stokes said.
