Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson have returned to England’s squad for the decisive third Test against New Zealand after the England and Wales Cricket Board concluded its investigation into the pair’s breach of the team curfew celebrating victory in the first game of the series.
“Stokes and Atkinson were found to have breached specific contractual obligations that require England players to at all times maintain the highest standards of conduct and act in the best interests of England cricket,” the ECB said in a statement, in which it revealed that Atkinson had twice been attacked by the same individual.
“In addition to not being considered for selection for the second Test, they have both been given a written warning as to their conduct. It was also concluded that no blame should be attached to the players for violent conduct at the nightclub. Stokes was not involved in the altercation and did not witness either incident. The evidence the ECB has seen demonstrates that Atkinson was the victim of unprovoked attacks and did not retaliate.”
Separately the Cricket Regulator has decided that, given the players did nothing to provoke the nightclub incidents, they have no case to answer and it will not pursue its investigation.
The news came after Brendon McCullum admitted there was some “ambiguity” in rules around the team curfew that both players broke after England beat New Zealand at Lord’s, a night that ended in a 1am fight at the Rex Rooms nightclub in Chelsea. One issue is that the rules were never formalised in print, with the England head coach promising that he would be “making sure that we have these things better documented so there is no uncertainty”.
McCullum said of his squad’s recent disciplinary problems: “It is quite annoying, if I’m being totally honest, constantly having to deal with these issues. I like creating an environment where guys feel free, they’re enjoying themselves, they have a good time, they travel the world, they try to handle the pressures of playing international cricket. But I don’t condone some of the stuff we’ve done.
“In regards to making sure that we have these things better documented so there is no uncertainty around it, that will be something we do. But it is incredibly disappointing that we’ve had to deal with those issues. And I’d like us to just become a better cricket team, to be honest. It would be nice if that was our focus, rather than some of the other stuff we’ve had to deal with.”
New Zealand took just 48 minutes on Sunday to complete victory in the second Test by a margin of 253 runs, setting up a decider at Trent Bridge starting on Thursday. “If we can win this series, against a good New Zealand side, I think it’s a fine achievement,” McCullum said.
“They don’t hand those out though, so you’ve got to go and get them, and we’ve got to make sure that we have the unit ready to fire. The last week has definitely not helped, and the other message to the lads is we need to start not just performing on the field but we need to start carrying ourselves in a manner that is respectful of all those people that support the England cricket team.”
Stokes was withdrawn from Durham’s game against Northamptonshire on Sunday morning at the ECB’s request, as was Atkinson from Surrey’s fixture against Glamorgan. Stokes had scored 95 – a total he has bettered only once in nearly two years of first-class cricket since his century at Lord’s in the 2023 Ashes – at Chester-le-Street on Saturday. Earlier in the week, McCullum had spoken of his concern for his captain’s wellbeing, comments that the Durham chief executive, Tim Bostock, said left him “a little bit bemused”.
“My view on it has not changed,” McCullum said. “Speaking to Ben every single day since we had the incident, my assessment was that I was worried about him, but to see him be able to go out there and play some cricket and be able to look like he was enjoying himself is really positive.”
McCullum admitted that his team, which contained three debutants and two players making only their second appearance, had struggled to overcome their inexperience at the Oval. Sonny Baker and James Rew, two of the debutants, are not in the squad for the final Test, for which Ollie Robinson returns from injury.
“For a team that had five guys who have got a cumulative two Test matches between them, I thought we acquitted ourselves reasonably well for periods of the Test,” he said.
Stokes’s return means that Joe Root’s second stint as captain ends after a single game. “I actually really enjoyed this week,” he said. “I really enjoyed working with Baz. Clearly I’ve enjoyed the whole time he’s been head coach and to get to see it from a different side has been really good. From that perspective, it’s been good fun.
“When I took this opportunity to captain, I knew it wasn’t going to be a permanent post. I really enjoyed this week, but Ben coming back into any team, with what he’s capable of doing, can only be a good thing.”
England squad for third Test Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben lDuckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue.
