Oct 24th, 2017

Oct 24th, 2017

Glenn Maxwell has broken ranks from the rest of the Australian cricket team over the fate of Ben Stokes, claiming he would have his "contract torn up" by Cricket Australia if he was involved in a similar incident to the one involving the English all-rounder.

Stokes is yet to officially learn his fate for the Ashes series starting with the first Test at the Gabba on November 23, with police still investigating an ugly street brawl in Bristol which saw the suspended English vice-captain king hit a man to the ground.

Maxwell, who is fighting for a spot in the Australian team in the hotly-contested No.6 position, told The Run Home on Melbourne's SEN radio that any Australian cricketer involved in such an incident would face a swift and severe punishment from Cricket Australia.

"I know if it was me, I’d have my contract ripped up and thanks for your services," Maxwell said.

"I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes with English Cricket at the moment, whether there’s a police report or not, but I know it’s very much something that Australian players are trying to avoid, especially since the David Warner incident a few years ago in Birmingham.

"Since then everyone’s been on a high alert about behaviour off the field and making sure we are not doing anything that brings Australian Cricket into the wrong light.

"We are all well-behaved and we don’t really create a whole lot of headlines off the field with our behaviour, and I think it’s a credit to a lot of our players."

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor recently told Wide World of Sports he would be surprised if Stokes tours, whilst other members of the team have been more circumspect when pressed on the matter.

Maxwell acknowledged it would be a blow for England if he was dropped over the incident, with Ian Chappell claiming they could not be able to win the series without him.

"It will also be interesting to see how they’ll replace him because obviously he’s a world class player," Maxwell said.

"We saw how good he was during that Champions Trophy campaign where he scored an amazing century and made guys like (Mitchell) Starc and Pat Cummins look medium-paced."