Ben Stokes cleared for batting practice in Kiwi match

A New Zealand cricket club has approved Ben Stokes’s application to play.

England allrounder Ben Stokes arrives in Christchurch earlier this week.

A New Zealand cricket club has approved Ben Stokes’s application to play despite revelations his case has been referred to British prosecutors and reminders that the man he allegedly hit has a fractured eye socket.

Stokes will now pad up on Sunday, no doubt hoping the one-dayer between Canterbury and Otago will give him much-need batting practice ahead of a recall to the England team.

It now remains to be seen if England, down one-nil in the Ashes Test series and sorely missing the star allrounder, will also manage to navigate a path that puts expediency ahead of principle.

The reality is, however, that there is only a slim chance Stokes can find his way through the legal and disciplinary processes in time to play in any of the Tests.

Yesterday Kevin Pietersen seemed to revel in the moral quandary the director of England cricket Andrew Strauss now finds himself in.

“I think the big pressure here is on Andrew Strauss,” he said. “He doesn’t have a lot of hair at the moment and I think this for one is going to be something where he’s going to lose sleep, because this is a major, major decision.

“When you jump into the realm of being an international sportsman, you have duties and you have unwritten rules and fighting in the streets is probably one of those real unwritten rules that you just are not allowed to do, you don’t get engaged in.

“I’m not going to be the one who passes judgment on whether he should or he shouldn’t play, but Andrew Strauss has got an incredibly difficult decision here.”

Pietersen’s career was effectively ended by Strauss after a long- running battle between the pair. The decision by Bristol police to refer the Stokes case to prosecutors means there will be further delays in any decision on charging him. England have maintained from the beginning that Stokes won’t be considered for selection until the police investigation is finished.

Early yesterday Avon and Somerset Police released a statement saying they had “passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service and are now seeking charging advice”.

Police noted that a 27-year-old man “suffered a fractured eye socket” and a 26-year-old man (Stokes) “was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm and was later released under investigation”.

Stokes flew to New Zealand earlier in the week and will play for Canterbury on Sunday, a move that most read as an indication he was on standby ready to join the tour if cleared.

Canterbury Cricket Association met on Tuesday night to make a decision on allowing Stokes to play before the police announcement. The club’s board was due to make its announcement early yesterday, but delayed it as the news was digested.

Eventually it decided to proceed with the approval, claiming it would bring “international experience to what is a relatively youthful changing room”.

Last week the club claimed to “expect a certain level of behaviour on and off the pitch from everyone that represents us” while announcing it had suspended a player who pleaded guilty to an assault charge in the same month as the Stokes’ incident.

Canterbury defended the apparent contradiction in the two positions. “While it would be easy to draw direct comparisons between the position taken recently with another player, we have to reiterate that in that situation the player was free to play until such time as he pleaded guilty to the charges,” chief executive Jez Curwin said in a statement.

“We believe Ben has the right to be treated the same way as other players.

“It is also our understanding that Ben would be free to play County cricket in the English domestic competition were they in season. Of course, as with all players, we can reassess the situation should it change.

“The Ashes series is an obvious connection however that has not been a consideration for us or Ben at this time, he is just keen to be able to work again.”

While any side would be boosted by the presence of Stokes, James Anderson said yesterday England were not focusing on his case.

“For us it’s good that he’s getting to play some cricket, if the situation does change he can hopefully join up with us at some point, but at the moment it’s out of our hands and we can try to focus on winning this Test with the squad we’ve got here,” Anderson said. “It’s not something we really think about. You don’t not talk about it deliberately. It just doesn’t come up.

“We are really focused on trying to win this Test series and it’s important we do focus on that because any distractions outside our group will probably inhibit that.”