England’s captain Ben Stokes and pacer Gus Atkinson have now been made available for the third test against New Zealand.
The duo were found guilty of breaching a curfew after the first test. The duo were reportedly involved in an altercation with a rugby club player that ended up with the player punching an ECB official. Both the players were then pulled out of the second test and serious questions were raised over the future of the England captain Ben Stokes. Many reports even suggested that Stokes may himself take retirement from cricket in order to avoid more controversies.
While the details of the entire situation have not been revealed, it was said that what Stokes did was considered a serious offense by the ECB, and the ECB was contemplating to ask Stokes to retire or at least give up captaincy. Joe Root was made stand in captain in Stokes absency.
Following their withdrawal from each county’s fixtures, there were signs that the two would return. The ECB acknowledged in a statement “that no blame should be attached to the players for violent conduct at the nightclub” after a disciplinary hearing concluded on Monday.
“Stokes was not involved in the altercation and did not witness either incident,” the board continued, adding that it had discovered information that “demonstrates that Atkinson was the victim of unprovoked attacks and did not retaliate on either occasion.”
However, it was determined that both players had violated “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,” and they were both barred from selection for the second Test and given a written warning.
Currently, New Zealand and England are tied 1-1, and the third and final test will be the tie -breaker.
England squad for third Test: Ben Stokes (C), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue
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