Ben Stokes is expected to be subjected to provocation in Australia during this summer's Ashes after the England vice-captain's arrest for alleged brawling.
The star allrounder has been dropped for Wednesday's one-day match against the West Indies after his arrest outside a nightclub in Bristol on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm.
Stokes has kept his spot for the Ashes and the vice-captaincy, with England's cricket director Andrew Strauss insisting earlier that the squad would be named "based on form and fitness".
Stokes has a history of misdemeanours, while police investigations into the incident early on Monday could result in him facing court.
There are also rumours in the UK press Stokes that might have broken his hand in the stoush.
He hit a swashbuckling century during his debut Test series in Australia in 2013. He has taken 26 Ashes wickets at 33.07 with his medium-fast pace.
"If Stokes doesn't go to Aus, then England should just stay at home," former England batting star Kevin Pietersen had tweeted before the England squad announcement.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said the 26-year-old would be "goaded the moment he arrives" in Australia - a view echoed by another former skipper Nasser Hussain.
"If this sort of thing can happen in Bristol, then it could happen anywhere in Australia during the Ashes tour," Hussain told the Daily Mail.
"You can be absolutely sure there will be someone in Australia out to make a name for themselves who will know what Ben is like and will try to wind him up.
"He will have to be a lot more careful than he has been so far in his career."
Vaughan criticised Stokes for threatening the team's preparation for the five-Test series, starting on November 23 in Brisbane.
"The facts are the England vice-captain was out at 2.30am, drinking two days before an England game and he has hit someone," Vaughan wrote in the UK Telegraph.
"What this has done is cast a massive shadow over the England team at the worst time ... he could be charged."
The England Cricket Board said Stokes was detained early on Monday but was released without charge in the evening pending an investigation.
