England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been found not guilty of affray following a trial at Bristol Crown Court. England cricketer Ben Stokes was found not guilty of affray in a unanimous decision by a jury in less than three hours of deliberations on Tuesday following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.

The 27-year-old -- whose co-defendant Ryan Ali was also found unanimously not guilty -- had been charged following a brawl hours after England played the West Indies in a one-day international in Bristol, southwest England, in September last year.

His wife, Clare, cried when the not guilty verdicts were returned while Stokes closed his eyes with relief and then looked up.
Stokes shook hands with Ali on leaving the dock at the end of the trial that lasted seven days.

Whilst Stokes -- whose travails are not over as he faces a disciplinary hearing by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) -- stayed inside a smiling Ali restricted himself to telling the BBC he was "relieved it was all over". At the start of the trial the prosecution tried to amend the indictment and charge Stokes with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. 
                  
New Zealand-born Stokes said in his testimony last Friday he had a "significant memory blackout" but he was "absolutely not" an angry man who had lost all control. Stokes -- who was with England team-mate Alex Hales -- said he intervened because 28-year-old Ali and his friend Ryan Hale -- who had been acquitted earlier in the trial -- had directed alleged homophobic abuse at gay men William O'Connor and Kai Barry as they walked away from Mbargo nightclub.

Hales, who was interviewed under caution but never arrested in relation to the incident, was seen on the CCTV stamping and kicking Ali in the head as he lay on the floor. Neither O'Connor nor Barry gave evidence but the judge said imaginations should not run riot as to why that had been the case. 

Stokes's career has been on hold during the trial -- meaning he missed England's second Test victory over India at Lord's -- and he was omitted from the squad for the third Test which gets underway next Saturday. 

A brief statement issued by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said they would review Stokes's position following the conclusion of the trial.