England's Ben Stokes pleads not guilty to affray ahead of trial on August 6

Ben Stokes has pleaded not guilty to a charge of affray and will go on trial later this year.

The England all-rounder is currently on tour in New Zealand and appeared via video link on Monday morning.

The trial has been set for August 6 at Bristol Crown Court and is expected to last between five and seven days, meaning Stokes will miss the Lord's Test against India.

Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale have also been charged with affray, and both men also entered not guilty pleas on Monday morning.

The charges relate to an incident which happened in Bristol in the early hours of the morning on September 25 and allegedly resulted in a man suffering a broken eye socket.

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Stokes, 26, was suspended from playing for England while a decision was made on whether to charge him and he missed the Ashes tour of Australia as a consequence.

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He was subsequently allowed to join the tour of New Zealand and played in the one-day international series which finished on Sunday, hitting a six to seal a 3-2 England win.

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