Cricket, lovely cricket (Part 1)

And banned from the IPL - that’s going to hurt their wallets :joy:

I reckon it will probably end Warner’s test career. Which is okay with me as I think he is a bit of a gobshite.

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Lets not get too sanctimonious here… A couple of Australian cricketers get banned for a year for mucking about with bits of tape. Meanwhile,one our own towering icons of athleticism is back playing cricket on full pay shortly after getting pissed and potentially nearly killing someone. Which actually is the worse crime? Our board should be ashamed of themselves IMV.

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Bit strong that - he hasn’t had his day in court yet and you’ve already found him guilty

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Yes you are right, we only have video evidence and a confession…

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No he didn’t

and a ‘not guilty’ plea

I’m pretty sure if Stokes is found guilty the ECB will follow that with a suitable punishment, how can they prejudge the outcome of the trial?

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I just think they should have fucked the cunt off until the trial, and then when he is found guilty fucked him off some more. He is a total embarrassment in my view. He broke his hand and the other guy had a fractured eye socket I think and if he had fallen and hit his head, things could have been MUCH worse. I feel enormously let down by Stokes and he shouldn’t be anywhere near the team at the moment IMV.

No doubt his very expensive lawyers will claim self defence or something similar and get him off with a suspended sentence but he’ll always be a drunken violent thug as far as I am concerned.

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But what happened for him to do that? Was he just hitting people for the fun of it? Or was he provoked? Or was he defending his mates? All we’ve seen on the CCTV footage is him lamping someone - we haven’t seen what led up to it.

As a professional centrally contracted ECB player he shouldn’t have been in the vicinity at that time of night or under the influence of alcohol. Even without the violent episode he should be struck off forever for being a twat.

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Yes, if, but he didn’t. You could say the same about someone pushing another person over. It could result in the same outcome.

The point I’m trying to make is he pleaded not guilty. You are making a judgement based on seeing a short, admittedly quite damning, CCTV clip, without access to the rest of the facts of the case.

The trial has to take place before the board can take any action IME.

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It’s common for people to be placed on some kind of leave pending investigations / trials.

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Indeed, but It’s also common for them to continue until the outcome of the trial.

But it’s not like he may have said something a bit off - he was pissed and punched someone hard enough to break bones, caught on CCTV. Suspension pending prosecution is the least I’d expect. If I was caught doing that I’d be fired irrespective of any trial outcome, and I’m not a public figure / sporting hero / inspiration for kids.

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Just doing what hundreds of young people do every Friday night in towns up and down this fine cuntry :smirk:

There are cc cameras here where I work and If I was caught fighting by them I would expect to be dismissed regardless of a court case.

My point in all this is that on the strength of a bit of video evidence and a confession, CA have done the right thing by banning Smith and Warner for a year. The ECCB however, have got Stokes back as soon as his hand has healed because he is innocent until proven guilty (and England’s best player) even when it is completely obvious that it is him knocking seven bells out of some bloke in that video. I don’t think it matters that he was provoked, in fact he shouldn’t have put himself in that position, been there at that time of night, in that state; especially as he knows he has a short fuse.

Still, brawling in the street, smashed out of your mind is acceptable in this country - go to any city centre on the weekend to see what I mean- and we need our role models to show us the way. :+1:

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This is the only thing I’m defending. I have no defence for Stokes himself in what appears to be a nasty incident.

I agree the principle, but he needs to be removed from international cricket pending the outcome. That’s not prejudging, it’s basic fucking decency.

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I see they have now admitted it was sandpaper so they lied at the press conference. The bowlers must have known the ball was scuffed up now and in the ashes. They need to come clean now.

Warner will no doubt bring out a book dragging everyone down with him.