England captain Ben Stokes and pacer Gus Atkinson breached the team curfew regulations after the Lordโs Test and were reportedly involved in a physical altercation at a London nightclub while celebrating the victory over New Zealand. The board immediately released a statement, confirming an internal probe. Soon after that, the players were suspended from the second Test against New Zealand.ย
Stokes is now back for the third Test after serving a one-match ban. He accepted responsibility within the dressing room, confirming that he had apologised to his teammates ahead of the Trent Bridge Test. He said accountability was an important part of his role as captain.
“Of course. That was one of the first things I had to do as captain. It’s all fine, everything being fine and dandy, when it’s going well, but you need to take responsibility for things as well. You need to be big enough and man enough to be able to take that upon your shoulders, look everyone in the eye who it’s affected and apologise how you need to apologise. Thatโs something I did,โ Stokes said in the press conference.ย
This week is massive for the team: Stokes
Despite renewed attention on the episode ahead of the deciding match, Stokes indicated he was unwilling to dwell on the matter and instead wanted attention directed toward the contest that will determine the outcome of the series.
“I understand there’s a lot of questions that you (the media) probably want to ask and want to hear from me, but I hope you respect, in terms of this whole week, I’m (only) focusing on this week. That’s where my focus is at right now… I’m here as captain of this team, and all I want to do is get the team focused on winning here. We are 1-1 in a three-match series, and this week is massive for the team,โ the all-rounder added.ย
Notably, England enter the third Test under additional pressure after being docked 12 World Test Championship points for a slow over-rate offence during the second match. The penalty leaves them seventh in the standings with four wins and seven defeats from 12 matches in the current 2025-27 cycle.
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