At long last, a cricketer has managed to reach the consciousness of the general public. This is quite something given that most cricketers, even the so called stars of the national team, are virtual unknowns now that cricket is confined to cable and satellite TV. Unfortunately, Ben Stokes reached out for fame by getting into a brawl outside a nightclub in the early hours, after a shedload of beer, spirits and Jagerbombs, rendering unconscious two other people who were not guilty of affray, like Stokes.
Stokes leaves Bristol Crown Court an innocent man. The cloud that was over his name has now dispersed. He is free to resume his lucrative career and, in the eyes of some, carry on being a role model to young people all over the land.
He could well be a role model for people pissing it up, showing how a world class sportsman can consume loads of booze and showing how you, too, can engage in a drunken punch up and still have no criminal convictions.
For all I know, Stokes may well be a lovely young man. He is probably the ideal husband, a neighbour who would let you have his last cup of sugar and be the first to line up some shots in your local.
All of this is the bizarre aftermath of Stokes’s trial for affray. All the things he did were put to a court of law and they decided, having seen all the evidence, that this man was not guilty.
If Stokes really did protect a gay couple who were being abused, I suppose I should praise him, but I am not going to praise him for literally knocking out two people. Justice was seen to be done, but not seen to be believed.
Luckily for parents calling out for more role models, the good news is that now this trial has ended cricket will return to obscurity on satellite TV. The talents of Ben Stokes will be displayed largely behind closed doors and to most people he will always be that cricketer who got in a fight and got found not guilty of affray. I’m not sure that’s how, as an innocent man, Stokes will want to be known and remembered but in a world where Rupert Murdoch is the king of television that is exactly how he will be known and remembered.
