Ben Stokes' five month exile from England duty will end on Friday when he rejoins the national side in New Zealand.
Stokes pleaded not guilty to a charge of affray at Bristol Magistrates Court on Tuesday and, after establishing he did not need to appear at the next hearing on March 12, boarded a flight the following day.
Having departed Heathrow and travelled via Abu Dhabi and Melbourne, Stokes is due to land in Auckland on Friday afternoon.
He will then be met by members of the England and Wales Cricket Board's support staff and driven around 70 miles to Hamilton, where the Twenty20 squad are currently based.
His arrival at the team hotel will mark a formal reintroduction to the set-up, having last been involved in the one-day victory over the West Indies on September 24.
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A night out with fellow players after that match culminated in an altercation outside a nightclub, leading to a lengthy police investigation during which he was deemed unavailable for selection.
Stokes went on to miss the entire 4-0 Ashes defeat, the subsequent ODI campaign and the ongoing T20 tri-series.
England will already have trained by the time he touches down, though the gruelling nature of his journey means he would not have been expected to take part on Friday anyway.
The 26-year-old could net with the team on Saturday, but England have made it clear there is no prospect of him featuring at Seddon Park against New Zealand 24 hours later.
If New Zealand defeat Australia in Auckland, England's chances of making the final would be over, making their final triangular match a dead rubber and theoretically providing a tempting occasion to restore Stokes to the field.
But they are in no rush to press him into action before he has proved his match sharpness and may prefer, in those circumstances, to blood the uncapped Sam Curran, who has been part of the touring squad over the past couple of weeks.
Instead, Stokes' focus will be on pushing for selection for the first ODI, also at Hamilton, on February 25.
Speaking earlier in the week, head coach Trevor Bayliss, indicated he would need to see the player up close before making a final decision on his readiness.
"Having a chat around practice you'll probably be able to see whether he's hitting them well in the nets, how it's coming out with his bowling," said the Australian.
"It's about making a judgement call at some stages. In the past he's been out with injuries and come back sooner than we thought. That's the type of character he is and it doesn't take him long at all to get back up to speed.
"He's been indoors doing plenty in the last month or two, so it's not as if he's been doing absolutely nothing - it'll just be a case of getting him on turf wickets and a few outdoor nets.
Asked if there were any concerns about the crowd reaction on his return, Bayliss added: "He'd probably cop some anyway, even if he hadn't been out for the last few months. It's par for the course.
"Most of the crowds wherever you go around the world target an opposition player. It's usually one of the better players, to try and put them off their game and Ben's been through all that before."
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
ASHES FIXTURES
1st Test: Brisbane, Nov 23-27
2nd Test: Adelaide, Dec 2-6
3rd Test: Perth, Dec 14-18
4th Test: Melbourne, Dec 26-30
5th Test: Sydney, Jan 4-8
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Titan Sports Academy:
Programmes: Judo, wrestling, kick-boxing, muay thai, taekwondo and various summer camps
Location: Inside Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Telephone: 971 50 220 0326
PROFILE BOX:
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Rami Salman, Rishav Jalan, Ayush Chordia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Technology, Sales, Voice, Artificial Intelligence
Size: (employees/revenue) 10/ 100,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($800,000)
Investors: Eight first-round investors including, Beco Capital, 500 Startups, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Hala Fadel, Odin Financial Services, Dubai Angel Investors, Womena, Arzan VC
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Cagliari v AC Milan (6pm)
Lazio v Napoli (9pm)
Inter Milan v Atalanta (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Sampdoria v Brescia (6pm)
Fiorentina v SPAL (6pm)
Torino v Bologna (6pm)
Verona v Genoa (9pm)
Roma V Juventus (11.45pm)
Parma v Lecce (11.45pm)
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
The%20specs
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