Television personality Piers Morgan has revealed details of English cricketer Ben Stokes' account of a street brawl, which left the all-rounder suspended until further notice.
Stokes and teammate Alex Hales were allegedly involved in a brawl after England's win over the West Indies on Monday outside a nightclub in Bristol.
The Sun has since published CCTV footage of the incident, which shows a man resembling Stokes and two other people, one clutching a bottle.
- Video emerges of England cricket star Ben Stokes in alleged brawl
- England vice-captain Ben Stokes named in Ashes squad despite arrest
- England suspend Ben Stokes, Alex Hales after Bristol nightclub incident
Stokes, who suffered a minor fracture of a finger on his right hand, has reportedly apologised to the England Cricket Board (ECB) and described his state of mind as "fragile and devastated".
But Morgan has shared a different side to the story on his Twitter account.
"I'm hearing that Ben Stokes intervened to help two gay guys who were being abused by yobs, one of whom was armed with a bottle," Morgan wrote.
"Stokes has told friends he was incensed by the homophobic taunts, then saw the bottle being raised and decided to defend himself.
"Stokes obviously regrets what happened, but apparently his view is: 'They started it, I finished it. I was protecting those guys.'
"Police are aware of Stokes' version of events and are now trying to find the two gay men to corroborate what he's said.
"Stokes has told friends: 'The guy had a bottle in his hand and was threatening us. Was I supposed to wait until he smashed it in my face?'
"People can obviously make up their own minds about the Stokes video, but his defence certainly raises new questions.
"Stokes was stupid to be out boozing & fighting at 2.30am. But if he WAS defending two gay guys from threatening, abusive, homophobic yobs?"
The ECB said in a statement both Stokes and Hales have both been suspended until further notice, and could potentially miss the upcoming Ashes series against Australia.
"These decisions, fully supported by ECB chairman Colin Graves, were made following the release of footage viewed by ECB for the first time on Wednesday night."
Should the 26-year-old definitively be ruled out of the tour it would be a huge blow for England, whose chances of defending the Ashes in Australia have already been called into question.
The hosts whitewashed England 5-0 in 2013/14.
Former captain Andrew Strauss, now director of England Cricket, had hoped earlier that the situation could 'galvanise' the rest of the team.
"You can go one of two ways," he said after the squad announcement. "It can actually bring people together or it can allow people to splinter off into other groups.
"What I'm very encouraged about is how tight that team environment is at the moment.
"I'm exceptionally hopeful that they can use this to galvanise things and bring them closer together to focus their minds on what they need to achieve in Australia."
Reuters / Newshub.
