England All-rounder Moeen Ali says England can still win the Ashes on enemy lawn even if all-rounder Ben Stokes is not in the party that travels to Australia. Stokes was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm and suspended from internationals until further notice following an apparent fight outside a nightclub.

The Test vice-captain was included in the Ashes squad despite reportedly injuring his hand in the incident that led to his arrest but there are doubts about whether he will be on the plane to Australia. The 26-year-old Ben Stokes all-rounder was released without charge but remains under investigation as suggested.

Ali, speaking after England wrapped up their summer schedule with a nine-wicket win against a poor West Indies side in Southampton on Friday, acknowledged Stokes's importance but said they could win without him. "We all know how good a cricketer he is, what he can bring to the table and he's one of the main players that we have, so it would be great to have him out there but let's see what happens," Moeen added"

Number eight is somewhere I'm kind of used to at the moment but if I'm told to bat seven I feel I'm capable of doing well and hopefully can show that I can go out there and play against their bowlers, play well against them
"If he's not there then we're going to have to play well without him so I definitely feel that we can still win."

Ali, named Man of the series against the West Indies, said he was looking forward to the challenge of retaining the Ashes. England won the series when it was last held at home in 2015 but have lost two of the past three series in Australia 5-0.

England may have enjoyed Test series win over South Africa (3-1) and West Indies (2-1) in the past few months but they ended their home Test campaign pretty much where they started it with doubts over a number of positions at the top of the batting order.

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