Ben Stokes will miss the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony tonight through illness.
The England cricketer is one of six sports stars up for the main award at the ceremony in Salford. His competition includes Lioness Beth Mead, gymnastics starlet Jessica Gadirova, curling captain Eve Muirhead, snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan and 1500m athletics world champion Jake Wightman.
But if he is to win the gong, Stokes will not be there to pick it up in person. He had planned to attend the ceremony, but has returned home after feeling unwell and will watch on the TV.
His wife Clare confirmed the news in a post on social media. In her Instagram story, she posted a photo of the cricket captain wrapped up under some blankets with his eyes closed, with the caption: "All ready for SPOTY here! Except @stokesy has come home with a stomach bug."
Stokes is the second most fancied to win the award, having enjoyed a stellar first year as England's Test captain. He led the team to nine wins from 10 matches, most recently making history as England sealed a 3-0 series win over Pakistan – the first ever country to complete a clean sweep in the Asian country.
However, despite his heroics, according to the bookies Stokes and the rest of his fellow nominees will struggle to topple Beth Mead. The England Euro 2022 hero is the overwhelming favourite to take the SPOTY crown.
The Arsenal star arrived on the red carpet at Media City this evening with her plus one, fellow Gunners footballer Vivianne Miedema. Both of them are currently nursing injuries and so were photographed on crutches.
Lionesses coach Sarina Wiegman spoke glowingly about Mead ahead of the ceremony. She said: "[Mead] is a very great character. She's a great team player, it's really lovely to work with her. I've been privileged to work with this team which I've enjoyed so much as they are such great human beings.
"Beth is one of those too. Yes she's had a very important role in the team, as have so many players. But she's a lot more visible as she scored very many goals, important goals and assists. She kept growing and growing throughout the year. I'm very sad she's injured now but so far she has done incredibly well.
"I'm proud of her and the whole team anyway, whatever happens tonight. It would be very nice for her to win it, but if she doesn't I'm still as proud."
