Stokes Ashes hopes lie with police: Strauss

England cricket chief Andrew Strauss has admitted the ongoing absence of Ben Stokes from the tour of Australia is a "blow" to the team but said the allrounder's future involvement in the Magellan Ashes was largely out of his hands. 

Joe Root's squad left England without vice-captain Stokes who remains at home awaiting the outcome of a police probe into his involvement in a brawl outside a Bristol nightclub on September 25.

The England and Wales Cricket Board have not formally ruled Stokes out of the Ashes series, which starts with the first Test in Brisbane on November 23.

"The situation in a word is complicated," Strauss, the ECB's director of England cricket, told BBC Radio on Sunday.

"There's two different potential disciplinary procedures he has to go through, one is the ECB's own internal one and the other is any potential police action," the former England captain added.

"Until we know more from the police it's very hard for us to put a timeline on anything.

"What we all want is clarity on what that situation is and how much cricket he will be missing for England. We're keen to get into that and move this forward but we're in the hands of the police.

"Ben has been and is developing into a world-class cricketer. The fact he's not out there at the moment is a blow to the England team."

Avon & Somerset Police, the force investigating the Bristol brawl, took an average 24 weeks to finalise investigations into similar incidents in 2016, and the force has said it would not be swayed to bump the case to the top of the queue given Stokes' status as an international cricketer.

Strauss was the last England captain to lead the side to a Test series win in Australia, overseeing a 3-1 victory in 2010-11.

England hold the Ashes following their 3-2 home success in 2015 but their most recent tour of Australia ended in a humiliating 5-0 defeat in 2013-14.

Strauss said the memory of that whitewash would spur those on the receiving end, such as current captain Root, to greater heights now.  

"I was involved in a 5-0 drubbing in 2006 and I used that as a very strong base for retribution," said Strauss. "I'm sure the guys who were there last time and suffered the chastening defeat at the hands of Mitchell Johnson will want to put that right."

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Steven Finn, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

First Test Gabba, November 23-27. Buy tickets

Second Test Adelaide Oval, December 2-6 (Day-Night). Buy tickets

Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Buy tickets

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Buy tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Buy tickets

ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Buy tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Buy tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Buy tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Buy tickets

Fifth ODI Perth TBC, January 28. Join the ACF

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Buy tickets

T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Buy tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Buy tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Buy tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21