Canterbury's contentious decision to sign Ben Stokes for the Ford Trophy has received an unexpected endorsement – from one of the players he could be lining up against over the weekend.
It was announced on Thursday that the troubled Kiwi-born English allrounder would be allowed to play in New Zealand's domestic one-day competition just over 24 hours after arriving in the country amid speculation over his involvement in the Ashes in Australia.
Stokes is under investigation by UK police after allegedly assaulting a man in a late night brawl outside a Bristol nightclub in September. While banned by the England Cricket Board (ECB) from playing internationally, pending the outcome of the police investigation, the fiery 26-year-old is permitted to play domestically.
He is available for Canterbury's opening match against Otago at Rangiora on Sunday in what is widely believed to be valuable match practice before an expected call-up to the struggling English test squad.
Otago allrounder Mark Craig insists, however, that Canterbury made the right call.