England's dwindling flame in need of a Stokin'

England all-rounder Ben Stokes hopes he will be remembered for his exploits on the pitch after a troubled year off it following a fight outside a Bristol nightclub last September.

After a six-day trial in August, Stokes was found not guilty of affray at Bristol Crown Court but the incident has dogged him in the 14 months since. Following the fight, he was stood down by the ECB from last winter's Ashes series. Naturally, he was also removed as Test vice-captain, after less than 9 months on the job. Furthermore, he also missed the second Test against India at Lord's this summer to attend the trial.

The fallout continues. Stokes will face a disciplinary hearing in early December, along with Alex Hales, after the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. For now, however, he says his focus is solely on his cricketing deeds.

"Look, it's all about looking forward now," he told BBC Sport. "We've got a huge summer coming up [next year] with the Ashes and the World Cup so I'm fully focused on that. Looking at things that went on [in the past] is not the way I like to think about things. It's all about looking to the future."

On missing the Ashes, Stokes said, "That's the thing about going forward. Everything you do from here onwards is what people will hopefully remember. That's what I'm trying to do. As I said, it's a big year coming up. Two important things - a World Cup and an Ashes - and with them both being in England, it's really exciting."

First up, Stokes will hope to help England improve upon a poor performance in the final ODI (which saw the tourists being thumped by a record 219 runs) in a one-off T20I on Saturday in Colombo.

"It was a wake-up [call] in that last game," he told TalkSport. "The way Sri Lanka came out, I don't recall the last time we were hit for 360 as a bowling unit or played so poorly with the bat. It was a big learning curve. It gave us a big kick up the arse. Hopefully we can right those wrongs in training on Friday and in the T20 on Saturday."

England will play the one-off T20I on Saturday (October 27), before participating in 2 warm-up games in preparation for the 3-match Test series, which commences on Tuesday (November 6).