THE video which has been released showing England cricketing vice-captain Ben Stokes involved in a street brawl in Bristol before throwing a punch that knocks another man to the ground is shocking but sadly, it is not wholly surprising. There is, it seems, something of a self-destruct button in a significant number of elite athletes whereby they seems unable to maintain the level of discipline and commitment that is required to make it at the very top level in sport.

As a result of the street fight, which occurred at 2:30am, just hours after England had beaten West Indies in a one day international, Stokes was arrested on suspicion of assault. The all-rounder had been named in England’s Ashes squad for this winter but it emerged that he damaged his hand in the brawl, putting his place in the squad in jeopardy before the England and Wales Cricket Board announced yesterday afternoon that Stokes, along with teammate Alex Hales, would not be considered for international selection for England matches until further notice.

There have been a number of high-profile defenders of Stokes’ conduct, claiming that he was only defending himself but in fact, the street brawl is not the most important issue here. What is far more significant is the decision-making process that went on in Stokes’ head which resulted him being in a position whereby a street fight was a possibility at all.

Why was one of England’s top cricketers out at half past two in the morning? What world is he living in to believe that was acceptable conduct when he had another one day international less than 36 hours later? It is the fight which has captured all of the headlines but his behaviour would be no more acceptable had the cricketer avoided becoming involved in the brawl. If he had managed to sidestep the fight, he would still have been out in the wee small hours of the morning less than two days before being due to represent his country on one of the most prestigious cricketing stages of them all.

Stokes’ antics are not particularly surprising though because he is far from the first elite athlete to deem such conduct acceptable. Only recently, Gary Mackay-Steven was involved in a nightclub fight following hours of partying in Glasgow before toppling into the River Kelvin. He is a professional footballer. He is in the middle of his season, with another match just days away. Being drunk should not be an option for any athlete in these circumstances, but all too often, it is a choice that the athlete believes is a legitimate one.

The Scottish swimming team for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games will be named on Tuesday, with Olympic medallist Dan Wallace expected to secure a place. The 24 year-old has just returned from a drink-driving ban, a misdemeanor

that resulted in him missing out on selection for the GB team for this summer’s World Championships. This kind of unacceptable behaviour from athletes appears shockingly commonplace.

I do not subscribe to the theory that elite athletes should automatically be appointed role models. Just because someone is good at kicking a ball, hitting a tennis ball or running fast does not mean that they should be expected to be morally superior to anyone else on this planet. Being lucky enough to have good sporting genes should not mean that these individuals are held to unusually high standards.

But what athlete are, and what they should never forget, it that they are setting an example to every young athlete in their sport who is attempting to follow in their footsteps. There will be countless young kids who idolise Stokes and would be willing to copy his every move. If they see him out in a nightclub at 2:30 in the morning, the lesson they learn is that you don’t need to be committed nor professional to make it at the highest level.

It is indescribably hard to make it to the very top in sport. I witnessed first-hand more than a few athletes who had bags of potential yet could not maintain the level of discipline that is at least as important as innate talent when it comes to succeeding on the world stage.

Whatever punishment is ultimately meted out to Stokes will be thouroughly deserved. He holds too much responsibility for actions to be brushed under the carpet. And only when top athletes stop behaving like this will the next generation begin to realise that late, drunken nights have no place in elite sport.

AND ANOTHER THING…

Just two weeks after Paris was named as the host of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it has been announced that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended France’s main anti-doping laboratory from carrying out any tests. This development in the seemingly never-ending stream of bad news stories about doping only serves to perpetuate the feeling that WADA and others who are charged with reducing levels of drug-taking in sport are not fit for purpose.

The suspension of the French lab is the latest in a long line of suspensions of WADA-accredited labs and further dents the belief of the general public that drug cheats are being caught. These suspensions will ultimately raise the level of competence in the long run but in the meantime, how many dirty athletes are slipping through the net?