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Ben Stokes to miss Ashes ODIs, confirms ECB
By Aditya Pratap - Dec 31, 2017 10:07 am
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Ben Stokes will be removed from England’s one-day squad for the series against Australia tomorrow with Dawid Malan to be named as a replacement.

Stokes was named in England’s one-day squad for the Australia series but on the proviso, he would be removed if he was still waiting on a decision from the Crown Prosecution Service.

Stokes has still not heard whether he faces any charges for his part in a street brawl in Bristol in September which cost him a place on the Ashes tour. He remains on suspension by the ECB.

While his legal status is on hold he will continue to be named in England squads with an asterisk against his name. England will select the squad for the Twenty20 series against Australia this week and then the squads for the New Zealand series after the Sydney Test. Stokes will be named in both with the provision for him to be removed at a later date.

His absence gives Malan a chance to force his way into the one-day side after impressing in the Ashes series with a hundred in Perth. He started his England career as a white-ball player in Twenty20 and is one of several hard-hitting one-day batsmen who has been on the fringes of the squad for some time.

Alex Hales returns to the England set-up after being suspended for the final two one-day internationals of last summer against West Indies. It remains to be seen if he will regain his place with Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy performing well at the top of the order in his absence.

England’s one-day series starts in Melbourne on Jan 14 before matches in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide on Australia Day on Jan 26 and finally at the new Optus Stadium in Perth. The Twenty20 tri-series follows with games against Australia before England fly to New Zealand.