Adelaide: Mitchell Johnson and Ben Stokes will play in the third Test in Perth after charges of making physical contact during the ill-tempered fourth evening of the Adelaide Test were dismissed.
According to Sunday morning Herald Johnson, who had just collected his second consecutive man of the match award after Australia's 218-run triumph, and England all-rounder Stokes were hauled before ICC match referee Jeff Crowe over a collision during England's second innings, which sparked a series of heated exchanges between the teams.
The level two charge was for making inappropriate or deliberate contact, which carries a fine of up to 100 per cent of the player's match fee and/or a ban of one Test.
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But it's understood the players escaped punishment after Crowe dismissed the charges, which were laid by the umpires.
The incident took place in the final session on Sunday, when Stokes collided with Johnson while taking a run. The England allrounder, who was making his debut, appeared to take exception to the Australian left-armer changing his line to run into him.
The pair exchanged heated words afterwards, and the collision set the scene for more words between the Ashes combatants, with Michael Clarke marching from the slips into the vicinity of Matt Prior when he came into bat and Johnson and Broad trading barbs as they left the field.
However, no further charges emanated from the bad-tempered finish to the fourth day's play.
It took less than an hour for England to surrender its last four wickets on Monday morning, and for Australia to seize a 2-nil lead in the series
