New ECB chair Richard Thompson is planning to meet England Test captain Ben Stokes after he revealed in his Amazon Prime documentary that he had to be talked out of quitting international cricket after feeling let down by the ECB in the aftermath of his 2017 arrest in Bristol.
Stokes had been involved in a fight with two men outside a nightclub and was later charged with affray, before being acquitted by a jury. The ordeal lasted 11 months and Stokes was critical of the way the ECB handled the incident.
When asked if he felt let down by anyone during that period, Stokes said: "A few people. Quite a few of them wear a suit as well. It's still there, always will be."
He then revealed he was talked out of quitting playing for England by his manager Neil Fairbrother. "I don't want to play for England anymore," Stokes recalled saying at a meeting with Fairbrother at a motorway service station.
"At the time I was thinking I was playing for the wrong people. I was like 'I'm not walking out on the field, putting my energies and efforts in for these guys'."
Fairbrother added: "I had the warning signs of what was to come. He lost the desire and he just wasn't Ben. We talked about who you play for and why you play.
"I had to get over to him that he was playing cricket for himself, his family and his teammates. That was what he played for, that was why he was so good and that was what we had to get back to.
"That week and that moment changed Ben, wholly for the better. Now Ben is a different person to who he was pre-Bristol without a doubt."
Stokes also revealed he told one ECB "suit" to f*** off after they asked him for a selfie following England's 2019 World Cup win. "One person in particular asked me for a selfie," he said.
"And it was someone who wears a suit and I turned round and told them to f**k off. If this person didn't know how I felt about them. They did on the night of the World Cup final.
"The term 'suit' is just a generic term for an authority figure. Whoever I'm talking about, if they are watching, they will know who they are."
And when asked if he plans to meet with Stokes and rebuild bridges, Thompson told the Telegraph : "Yes, I am going to spend some time with him and Brendon and Keysy. I'm quite good with talent so I should be able to see things through his eyes."
