Ben Stokes appeared to be involved in an altercation with someone in the crowd following his dismissal in the fourth Test against South Africa.

The England all-rounder appeared to use expletives in a heated exchange with someone in the crowd as he left the field following his dismissal.

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Stokes was caught in the slips by Rassie van der Dussen as England fell to 157-4 in the fourth Test, before closing day one on 192-4.

Sky Sports Cricket pundit Mike Atherton says that Stokes is likely to face action from the match referee Andy Pycroft.

“I don’t condone any abuse – either supporters to players or players back. You’ve got to hold your tongue.

“The players know the regulations under which they are playing. We can disagree with them. It’s a grown-up game and you hear bad language from time to time but the regulation is that if bad language is heard on the field of play from players then the match referees are going to step in.”

Fellow former England captain Nasser Hussain agreed, adding: “You can be very cool and calm up in a commentary box, but when you’ve just got out and someone is abusing you from the sidelines, sometimes you lose the plot.

“Everyone wants a piece of Ben Stokes, good and bad. You’ll go to breakfast in the hotel and nearly every England fan will go up to Ben and say really nice things to him, at the airports too – because of the year he has had.

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“Then you see the other side of it, the bad side, when he’s walking off, a South African fan will have a go at him and it’s part of the game. You’re just going to have to suck it up. But it’s easy for us to say.

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