Stokes, Atkinson sent written warnings after nightclub drama

Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson breached their England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) contracts but were not guilty of “violent conduct” in a London nightclub, an internal investigation found.

The ECB said in a statement Stokes and Atkinson had been sent written warnings about their conduct in the early hours of June 8, when a member of England’s security staff was left bloodied by rugby player Totoa Auvaa.

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Stokes and Atkinson were made unavailable for the second match of a three-Test home series against New Zealand but have been named in the England squad for the third game.

Coach Brendon McCullum confirmed Stokes would retain the captaincy for the third Test, to be played at Trent Bridge from Thursday.

The ECB investigation said Stokes was not involved in an altercation and did not witness any incident.

“The evidence the ECB has seen demonstrates that Atkinson was the victim of unprovoked attacks and did not retaliate on either occasion,” the statement said.

Stokes and Atkinson breached the team’s midnight curfew.

“Ben will be back. He’ll be back and he’ll be captain,” McCullum said.

“I think everyone is excited about that, especially after seeing him hit some form for Durham.

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“I’ve been speaking to Ben every single day since we had the incident and my assessment was that I was worried about him. To see him go out there and play some cricket and look like he was enjoying himself is really positive.

“I’m not going to divulge our conversations because they are confidential but it’s great to see him back playing and I look forward to seeing him in a couple of days.”

England’s 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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