Sunday 24 December 2017 08:42, UK
Ben Stokes could make a multi-million-pound return to the Indian Premier League in 2018 after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) indicated he will be free to do so if he wishes.
Stokes, missing from England's failed Ashes campaign as he waits to hear if he will be charged with actual bodily harm after September's late-night fracas in Bristol, may conceivably not be back in international cricket for up to a year.
The suspended England all-rounder, who returned home to Durham for "family reasons" after a month-long spell in New Zealand with Canterbury Kings, could now agree an IPL deal for a second successive year.
ECB chief executive Tom Harrison explained it is likely to be up to Stokes to decide if the time is right to return to India next spring, with the Crown Prosecution Service scheduled shortly to advise on whether he faces criminal charges.
The ECB granted the 26-year-old a no-objection certificate to play in New Zealand, and he is also provisionally selected in a 16-man squad for the one-day international leg of England's tour of Australia in January.
Stokes landed himself a £1.7m deal and starring role with Rising Pune Supergiant last year.
With the next IPL auction set to take place in January, and even greater riches potentially available after a huge hike in broadcast revenue, Harrison said: "He has not applied for another no-objection certificate (NOC).
"We are waiting for the IPL papers."
Asked if it would be appropriate for Stokes to head back to India, Harrison said: "That is for Ben to decide.
"We could [say no] - but having given an NOC to go and play in New Zealand, I would imagine it would be difficult for us to say we do not apply the same thinking to playing in another part of the world."
