Ben Stokes nearly QUIT England duty due to the lack of support from the ECB after Bristol brawl

Ben Stokes revealed on Monday he had to be talked out of quitting England in the bitter aftermath of the brawl in Bristol that landed him in court.

Stokes felt he was so let down by his ECB employers when they fined him £30,000, stripped him of the England vice-captaincy and handed him an eight-match ban which ruled him out of the 2017-18 Ashes that he considered turning his back on his country.

The England captain makes his revelation in Phoenix From the Ashes, a documentary on the highs and lows of his eventful career that will be released on Prime Video on Friday.

England captain Ben Stokes revealed he had to be talked out of quitting international duty in the bitter aftermath of the Bristol brawl

 Stokes felt he was so let down by his ECB employers when they fined him £30,000

In it Stokes tells of a meeting at a motorway service station with his manager Neil Fairbrother, along with wife Clare, during his 11-month ordeal when he was charged and subsequently cleared of affray after a night out that went horribly wrong.

‘I don’t want to play for England anymore,’ Stokes states he told Fairbrother at the meeting. 

‘At the time I was thinking I was playing for the wrong people and I was like ‘I’m not walking out onto the field and putting in my energies and efforts for these guys’.’

The all-rounder was charged, and then cleared, of affray but his ECB employers fined him

Stokes’ revelations come in Amazon documentary Phoenix From the Ashes, released on Friday

Former England batsman Fairbrother, who has guided Stokes throughout his career, effectively talked Stokes out of the drastic action. ‘I had the warning signs of what was to come,’ says Fairbrother in the film. 

‘He lost the desire and it just wasn’t Ben. So 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, his team-mates. 

‘That was what he played for. That was why he was so good and that’s what we had to get back to.’

The New Zealand-born star also admitted he told an ECB suit to ‘f*** off’ in the aftermath of the 2019 World Cup final

Oscar winning director Sam Mendes, who produced the film, asks Stokes if he still feels let down by anyone during a turbulent period that eventually saw him free to resume his extraordinary career that has now culminated with the England Test captaincy.

‘A few people,’ says Stokes. ‘Quite a few of them wear a suit too. It’s still there. It always will be. One person in particular tried to ask me for a selfie after the World Cup final. 

‘And he was someone who wears a suit. I turned round and told him to f*** off. If that person didn’t know what I thought about them they did after the World Cup final.’