UPDATED 5.07pm: Suspended England all-rounder Ben Stokes has signed with New Zealand cricket franchise Canterbury, fuelling speculation he could return in the third Ashes Test.

Christchurch-born Stokes is set to play a one-day match against Otago in Rangiora on Sunday.

Canterbury director of cricket Gary Stead said Stokes would bring international experience to the youthful side.

"He will also bring depth to our seam attack, which has been affected by a string of injuries and provide more balance and firepower to our batting line up," he said.

Stokes has been stood down from duties with England since his involvement in a late-night brawl outside a Bristol club in September.

UK police recently finalised an investigation into the incident and prosecutors must now decide whether to charge the English vice-captain.

His signing with Canterbury comes as batsman Ken McClure last week stepped down from the South Island team after pleading guilty to a charge of injuring with reckless disregard.

McClure, 23, pleaded guilty to assaulting a man in Hanmer Springs on September 10 and has been remanded for sentencing until January.

Canterbury Cricket chief Jez Curwin refused to draw parallels between McClure's situation and that of Stokes.

"While it would be easy to draw direct comparisons between the position taken recently with another player, we have to reiterate that in that situation the player was free to play until such time as he pleaded guilty to the charges," he said.

"We believe Ben has the right to be treated the same way as other players."

He said Canterbury also understood that while suspended from the English side, Stokes would have been allowed to play county cricket if the English domestic competition was in season.

England lost the first Ashes Test against Australia by 10 wickets. The second starts in Adelaide on Saturday.