{"id":1041129,"date":"2026-06-21T16:13:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T16:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1041129\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T16:13:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T16:13:18","slug":"ben-stokes-blameless-in-nightclub-incident-as-he-returns-to-england-squad-as-captain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1041129\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Stokes \u2018blameless\u2019 in nightclub incident as he returns to England squad as captain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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England<\/a> captain Ben Stokes<\/a> will return to lead the Test side next week after a disciplinary investigation concluded he was not involved in the altercation that saw two \u201cunprovoked attacks\u201d on teammate Gus Atkinson.<\/p>\n

Stokes and Atkinson have been handed written conduct warnings but are recalled to the squad for next Thursday\u2019s decider against New Zealand<\/a> in Nottingham, just hours after New Zealand squared the series 1-1 with a crushing 253-run win at the Oval<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pair had been stood down from duty after an incident at a Chelsea nightspot<\/a> in the early hours of 8 June. An altercation took place with Saracens rugby union player Totoa Auvaa, with an England and Wales Cricket Board probe concluding that Atkinson was subjected to two separate attacks and did not retaliate.<\/p>\n

A member of England\u2019s security staff was reportedly injured, but Stokes was not present while the physical scuffle took place. Both players have been handed written warnings over their behaviour, which the ECB says contravenes the terms of their employment, but have avoided a fine and will not miss any further cricket.<\/p>\n

A parallel investigation by the independent Cricket Regulator, focusing on the question of potential provocation, found Stokes and Atkinson had no case to answer.<\/p>\n

A statement from the ECB read: \u201cStokes 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to not being considered for selection for the second Rothesay 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.<\/p>\n

\"StokesStokes will return as England captain for the third Test against New Zealand (PA Wire)<\/p>\n

\u201cStokes 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 on either occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Stokes\u2019s return, head coach Brendon McCullum offered an optimistic assessment despite months of speculation that the ill-fated winter tour of Australia had compromised their bond.<\/p>\n

\u201cBen will be back. He\u2019ll be back and he\u2019ll be captain,\u201d McCullum said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have robust conversations all the way through and that\u2019s to be expected when you\u2019re in positions of leadership. There\u2019s mutual respect there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been very clear and very supportive of Ben throughout and particularly this week. I anticipate we\u2019ll be able to work together really well with the week coming, and I\u2019m sure both of us still have that same vision for this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StokesStokes and Atkinson were both left out for the second Test (PA Wire)<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe\u2019ve worked together intimately for four years, we\u2019ve achieved some cool things and we\u2019ve let ourselves down in other things. But it\u2019s really important to separate the actions from the man.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think as leaders we help set standards and we try to abide by them and live to them constantly. Occasionally, there are going to be mistakes made, and during those times you can\u2019t walk past when standards have slipped or mistakes have been made. You address it and you try to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to the details of the new, more stringent protocols that were introduced in response to a number of alcohol-related issues over the winter, there remains uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Rob Key, the ECB\u2019s managing director of men\u2019s cricket, said last week that Atkinson claimed he did not know the midnight curfew was in operation after the completion of a game. In response, Key said the details had been communicated via the Team England Player Partnership \u2013 an umbrella group representing those with central contracts \u2013 and were widely known.<\/p>\n

\"BrendonBrendon McCullum is ready to welcome back Stokes (PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Asked for his view, McCullum said: \u201cLook, even if there is ambiguity, I think we\u2019ve sat here and talked about the curfew, talked about standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think fundamentally when you represent your country, you have certain standards you need to live up to. You\u2019re not just representing yourself; you\u2019re representing your family, the fans, the country, and you\u2019re being paid to do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to have certain standards you need to adhere to. To suggest that perhaps whilst there may not have been a hard blueprint potentially \u2013 I mean, like a hard factual [curfew] \u2013 everyone knew what was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

With scrutiny unlikely to dial down when Stokes returns to lead the team in Nottingham, McCullum concluded: \u201cThere\u2019s never a dull day in English cricket, is there?<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job as leaders is to try and remain calm and clear and make sure we\u2019re able to navigate through these things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1041130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,393,90488,142446,4884,8788,16,15],"class_list":["post-1041129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-england","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-file","tag-file-photo","tag-great-britain","tag-photo","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116788988046521554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1041129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1041130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1041129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1041129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1041129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}