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Two New Zealand radio presenters were suspended on Wednesday for bringing in Ben Stokes’ mother on-air without her knowledge after England’s four-wicket loss to West Indies in the ICC World Twenty20 final on Sunday.
When Deborah Stokes, who resides in New Zealand where her son Ben was born and raised, called in to complain about her son being “bagged” on the station, she was put straight to air despite assuring that she was off-air.
Ben’s mother was heard accusing the station of having fun at his expense where many star cricketers backed the young all-rounder.
Mrs Stokes, who was herself a prominent cricketer in NZ, continued on to stand up for her son, the broadcasters tricked her saying they were writing down her complaint to alert the station head and the hosts. But they kept misleading her; assuring the conversation was off-air.
The fact that Ben has family all over New Zealand infuriated Mrs Stokes.
After listening to the broadcast, Mrs Stokes called back the station when a spokesperson heard her grievances and said that the hosts would be suspended for their action.