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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday August 7, 2018
Bangladesh beat Windies Cricketer Ben Stokes ‘mocked gay men before nightclub fight’- jury told in Florida to win T20 series ENGLAND cricketer Ben Stokes mocked two gay men and flicked a cigarette butt at one of them before brawling with two other men, a court has heard. The Durham all-rounder, who will miss the second Test against India at Lord’s, denies affray. Bristol Crown Court heard Ryan Ali, 28, and Ryan Hale, 27, were knocked unconscious by Mr Stokes in Bristol on 25 September 2017. They also deny affray and are on trial alongside Mr Stokes. The fight outside a nightclub was “a sustained episode of significant violence” in which Mr Stokes “lost control”, jurors were told. Broken eye socket Nicholas Corsellis, prosecuting, said Mr Stokes, 27, had “knocked Mr Hale unconscious and then - after time to pause for thought, to calm - he did exactly the same to Mr Ali”. The prosecutor described Mr Stokes’s actions as “well beyond acting in self-defence or defence of another”. The cricketer has maintained that “at all times he acted in self-defence of himself or others” and believed the force he used was “reasonable and entirely justified”. An altercation took place in the Clifton Triangle area of the city just after 02:00 BST after the three defendants had left a nightclub, Mr Corsellis said. The court heard Mr Ali had sustained “significant injuries”, including a broken eye socket. Mr Corsellis told the jury a bottle was used at the beginning by Mr Ali, and a broken
Ben Stokes leaves Bristol Crown Court after the first day of the trial
street sign brought into the fray towards the end by Mr Hale. The defendants had been drinking in Mbargo nightclub, with the fight taking place after it closed, jurors heard. Mr Stokes and his teammate Alex Hales had left the nightclub at 00:46 but returned at 02:08. Bouncer Andrew Cunningham explained to the pair the club was closed and they would not be allowed in. However, an “obviously upset” Mr Stokes became “aggressive” and insulted Mr Cunningham about his appearance, jurors heard. Mr Cunningham said Mr Stokes’s attention then turned to two “openly gay” men - Kai Barry and William O’Connor - outside the venue. He claimed the cricketer had mimicked their voices and mannerisms in what he described as “a derogatory way”. Mr Corsellis said footage showed Mr Stokes “copying hand gestures made by the men”, while the bouncer claimed the cricketer had flicked a cigarette butt at Mr O’Connor.
“Mr Stokes’s behaviour outside the nightclub sets an important tone for what happened that night,” the prosecutor said. “He was clearly frustrated and annoyed. He took to acting in a provocative and offensive way.” Only the defendants know precisely how the fight started, Mr Corsellis told the court, which was shown further footage of the incident. ‘That’s enough’ A video showed Mr Ali hitting Mr Barry on the shoulder with a bottle. Mr Stokes threw at punch at Mr Ali, and the pair fell to the ground, the jury were told. Then Mr Hale tried to drag Mr Stokes off Mr Ali, the court heard. Mr Hale told police he had been “smashed to the floor”. Mr Corsellis alleged Mr Stokes did not act in self-defence but had pursued the other men in “retaliation”. “Everybody except him wants it to stop,” he told the jury. He said that in the footage Mr Stokes’ England teammate Mr Hales could be heard to say: “Stokes, Stokes, that’s
enough.” Mr Ali said “move away, move away” and Mr Hale said “stop, stop”, Mr Corsellis told the court. An eyewitness, Laura Sweeney, said she saw Mr Hale pull a metal leg from a road sign and run towards the other men. After he was arrested Mr Stokes was interviewed by police, and in a prepared statement said he saw two men speaking to two gay men in a “harsh and abusive” way. The statement said he “took exception to this and said ‘leave it out’”. Chip on shoulder Mr Hale then “grabbed and pulled” him, and Mr Stokes “felt the need to defend himself as he thought he was going to be attacked” and hit him “more than once”, jurors were told. In a second statement Mr Stokes denied being “aggressive” towards Mr Cunningham, accusing him of being “rude” and suggested he had a “chip on his shoulder”. “He denied mimicking or behaving in a derogatory manner towards Mr Barry and Mr O’Connor, saying that they had engaged in joking with each other and denied flicking a cigarette butt at anyone,” the court heard. Mr Stokes, of Castle Eden, Durham, was arrested in the early hours along with Mr Ali, of Bristol, and Mr Hale, of Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol. The fight took place several hours after England had played a one-day international against the West Indies at the city’s County Ground. The trial continues. (BBC Sport)
Windies U15 squad for intense two-week UK tour
A Windies U15 squad has been selected to embark on a two-week tour of the United Kingdom later this month. This is the fourth straight year that an u15 team will be touring the UK as part of an ongoing exchange between Cricket West Indies and the England Barmy Army’s Colts. This year, the team from the West Indies has attracted support from Virgin Atlantic. During the tour, the squad will face six teams in a series of 50-over matches including the Colts. The squad was assembled following the championship held in March this year. The full squad reads: Hilroy An-
drew of Antigua, Ackeem Auguste of St Lucia, Nimar Bolden of Barbados, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett of Nevis, Mavendra Dindyal of Guyana, Jordan Johnson of Jamaica, Johan Layne of Barbados, Jaden Leacock of Barbados, Tariq O’Neale of Barbados, Andrew Rambaran of Trinidad and Tobago, Yawani Regis of Dominica, Che Simmons of Barbados, Sanjay Walker of Jamaica and Rashad Worrell of Barbados. The squad will also play a 20/20 warm-up match against the London Schools Cricket Association on Friday, August 10, before starting the official schedule on Sunday, August 12.On Sunday, August 12 the WINDIES
Under 15 plays Hertfordshire. On Monday, August 13 they will play against Hampshire. They will then take on South West England on August 14 before playing against Ireland U15 on August 16. The intense schedule resumes on Friday, August 17 when they play the Barmy Army Colts. The final match of the tour is scheduled for Sunday, August 19 against London and East Region. The team is scheduled to return to the Caribbean on August 20. Richard Clarke will be the head coach on the tour. Steve Liburd has been named assistant coach. Dr Oba Gulston will be the team manager and physiotherapist.(Sportsmax)
LAUDERHILL, Florida, (CMC) – West Indies were left to rue an underwhelming batting performance as they went down by 19 runs under DLS in the third Twenty20 International against Bangladesh, to plunge to their third straight series defeat and seventh loss in nine outings here Sunday night. Chasing a difficult 185 in the series decider at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, the Caribbean side were heading towards defeat at 135 for seven in the 18th over, when rain arrived to end the match prematurely. At that point, West Indies were well adrift of the par score of 155, handing Tigers a well-deserved win and a sweep of the Florida doubleheaders following their 12-run win at the same venue on Saturday night. The reigning T20 World champions were slumping at 32 for three at the end of the sixth over and not even Andre Russell’s whirlwind top score of 47 from 21 deliveries could rescue the run chase. Rovman Powell slammed 23 and Denesh Ramdin, 21, but left-arm speedster Mustafizur Rahman, who ended with three for 31, made key strikes to keep the Windies innings in strife throughout. Man-of-the-Match Liton Das had earlier stroked an entertaining 61 off 32 deliveries to propel Bangladesh to 184 for five off their 20 overs, after they had opted to bat first. Veteran Mahmudullah lashed a crucial 32 not out off 20 balls while captain and Man-of-the-Series Shakibal-Hasan contributed 24 and Tamim Iqbal, 21. Das and Tamim gave the innings a flying start by adding 61 from 28 balls, as West Indies struggled to get a grip on the must-win encounter. The right-handed Das struck six fours and three sixes in a 32-ball innings while the left-handed Tamim sparkled briefly with three fours and a six off 13 balls. With the game in danger of running away from the Windies, captain Carlos Brathwaite (2-32) got the breakthrough when he had Tamim scooping to Kesrick Williams at short fine leg. Soumya Sarkar perished five balls later in the next
over for five, deceived by a slower ball from pacer Keemo Paul (2-26) and holing out to Powell at long on. However, a series of key partnerships then buttressed the innings. Das posted 31 for the third with Mushfiqur Rahim (12) before both batsmen fell in the space of five deliveries, leaving Bangladesh on 102 for four in the 11th over. Mahmudullah and Shakib quickly combined in a 44run fifth wicket stand and following a break for rain, Mahmudullah provided the innings with a rousing finish by adding 38 off 24 balls with Ariful Haque (18 not out). For the second straight night, the Windies started poorly and were staring down the barrel early. Andre Fletcher (6) sliced Mustafizur to Nazmul Islam at point in the fourth over, ChadwickWalton holed out to long for 19 off pacer Sarkar in the next over while Samuels got one that crept from left-arm spinner Shakib in the following over, and was bowled for two. Not for the first time in the series, Powell arrived to attempt a rescue mission, posting 45 for the fourth wicket with Ramdin, in a partnership which took West Indies to 61 without further loss at the half-way stage of the innings. By that point, however, the required run rate had risen to nearly 12-1/2 an over and the pressure told, with Ramdin missing a slog at speedster Rubel Hossain and having his stumps shattered in the 12th over. Russell wasted little time in finding his range, teeing off with Rubel over the ropes at mid-wicket before belting Shakib for a couple of sixes in the following over – the 13th which leaked 13 runs. All told, Russell counted one four and half-dozen amazing sixes but lost Powell in the 14th and Brathwaite in the 17th before eventually falling to the first ball of the 18th, drilling a low full toss from Mustafizur into Ariful’s hands at long off. Almost on cue, the rains arrived to usher in a defeat that was almost certain anyway, with the Windies still requiring 50 runs from 17 balls.