Ben Stokes And Gus Atkinson Dropped From England Squad For New Zealand Second Test

Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were left out of England’s squad for breaking the team curfew as they celebrated victory in the first game of the series against New Zealand on Sunday night.

“Joe Root Returns To The Throne As England Face An Oval Test Leadership Storm The Oval की कहानी इस बार सिर्फ bat और ball से नहीं लिखी जा रही”

AIMA Media

Joe Root was appointed interim captain for the next week’s second Test against New Zealand, with the final match in the series starting at Trent Bridge on 25 June.

AIMA Media

The England & Wales Cricket Board said Stokes and Atkinson have not been made available for selection “given the ongoing investigation,” and Rob Key, the organisation’s managing director of men’s cricket, was set to speak to the media on Thursday.

Root’s interim role comes after he previously led England in 64 Tests between 2017 and 2022, and the Guardian noted that Root’s batting average while leading the side was 46.44 before it “leapt to 54.90” in 84 innings since stepping down.

The BBC framed the situation as an “SOS to England's greatest ever batter to clean up the mess made in a London nightclub,” with Root stepping in after the investigation into Stokes’ actions in the early hours of Monday morning left England with “a very specific set of circumstances.”

Michael Vaughan backed Stokes staying as Test captain, saying “Yes, he broke a curfew” but adding “I don’t think so” that it was “a sacking offence as England’s Test captain.”

The Guardian reported that Stokes spent Wednesday in meetings with his agent and advisers debating whether to stand down as captain permanently or end his international career completely.

BBC

The BBC described the interim choice as a stability move, arguing that it would have been “absurd” to replace one captain sidelined by a nightclub incident with another captain who was punched outside a nightclub in Wellington.

It also noted that Root was “largely distanced from the boozing in Noosa,” and contrasted Root’s position with the broader squad’s drinking culture debate.

The AIMA Media account said the incident involved team midnight curfew breaches and claimed reports stated the two players “had breached the team's midnight curfew and remained at the venue into the early hours of Monday, June eight.”

With the ECB warning its inquiry may take “some weeks,” the Guardian said both players’ participation in the series’ final match at Trent Bridge on 25 June was also in doubt.

“Joe Root will captain England in next week’s second Test against New Zealand after Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were left out of the squad for breaking the team curfew as they celebrated victory in the first game of the series on Sunday night”

The Guardian

England’s absence of Stokes and Atkinson, combined with the hand injury sustained by Brydon Carse during a training session in April, means England will be without three of their four leading wicket-takers over the last two years.

The Guardian said England are very likely to bring two seamers next week, naming Sonny Baker and Jofra Archer, while Surrey’s Matthew Fisher kept his place in the squad.

The BBC added that England described the arrangement for the second Test as “interim,” and said its impermanence seems important as Stokes could decide to walk or return for the third Test at Trent Bridge.

AIMA Media also claimed that the second Test at The Oval was expected to tighten England’s grip on a three-match series after a “one hundred and fifteen run victory at Lord's” gave them a “one-nil series lead,” but that the situation became “discipline, authority, reputation, and the unexpected return of an old captain.”