Former England captain Michael Vaughan has lashed out at Ben Stokes after the 26-year-old all-rounder and England Test vice-captain was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm after an incident early Monday in Bristol.
The disorder that led to a man being hospitalized with facial injuries occurred hours after Stokes played in a one-day international victory over West Indies at the Bristol County Ground in southwest England.
Vaughan revealed that Stokes had been warned before about his lifestyle.
In his column for Daily Telegraph, Vaughan said Stokes needs to be careful off the field if he wants to be a superstar.
"Ben Stokes can't say he was not warned. I have been privy to private conversations about him recently and he has been given strong warnings about his lifestyle.
"People have said to him there is only one person who can ruin your career and that is you. Nobody else. He has the talent, plays all three formats relatively easily. Has the world at his feet," Vaughan wrote in his column.
Stokes was IPL's most expensive foreign player when Rising Pune Supergiant bought him for INR 14.5 crore in the February 2017 players' auctions.
"In time we could be describing him as a cricketing genius. But he has to understand that if he wants to be a superstar, and go over to India and earn huge IPL contracts, and keep them, he has to be careful off the field," Vaughan said.
Batsman Alex Hales, who was out with Stokes after the match, returned voluntarily to Bristol on Tuesday to help police with the investigation, the England and Wales Cricket Board said.
Stokes and Hales were absent from practice on Tuesday and they will miss the fourth match in the five-match ODI series against the West Indies on Wednesday at The Oval in London.
The police force in Bristol said it was called to "disorder" on a city center street at 2:35 a.m. on Monday. The BBC and Guardian said the incident happened at the Mbargo nightclub.
An unidentified 27-year-old man "suffered facial injuries and was taken to the Bristol Royal Infirmary for treatment," Avon and Somerset Police said in an appeal for witnesses.
The incident came just as England prepare to name their squad for the Ashes tour of Australia.
Stokes has a checkered off-field disciplinary record. He was cautioned by police after being arrested for obstructing police during a night out in 2011.
The allrounder was sent home from an England Lions tour of Australia the following year for flouting rules on late-night drinking. He missed the World Twenty20 in 2014 after breaking his hand while punching a dressing room locker in Barbados while enduring poor form. Last year, Stokes was convicted of speeding for a fourth time.
Vaughan said he was not expecting Stokes to leave alcohol but the youngster should learn his lesson from this episode and act smart off the field.
"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. But he is not streetwise off the pitch and that could be his downfall. I am hoping this is his lesson," Vaughan said.
(With inputs from agencies)
