Returning captain Ben Stokes insisted he had been “man enough” to apologise to his England teammates after missing the last Test for breaching a curfew.
Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson were dropped from the second Test against New Zealand after breaking a midnight curfew in an incident at a London nightclub, celebrating England’s first win in the series opener at Lord’s.
In their absence, an England team led by stand-in captain Joe Root and showing five changes — including three debutants — suffered a 253-run thrashing at the Oval as New Zealand levelled the series at 1-1 heading into the Nottingham finale at Trent Bridge starting on Thursday. The curfew breach came following the drinking controversies that marred England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.
Both Stokes and Atkinson, issued with a written conduct warning while cleared of any wrongdoing in a physical altercation, have been restored to the England team for the series decider.
Stokes said he was “back properly” for the finale, but declined to say if he was back for good while speaking to reporters at Trent Bridge on Wednesday—his first public comment on the incident since he was omitted from the second Test.
“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 focusing on this week,” he said.
“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,” insisted Stokes, who made 95 for county side Durham last week. “We are 1-1 in a three-match series and this week is massive for the team.”
Stokes, asked if he had apologised to the team when he spoke before training on Wednesday, said: “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. That’s something I did.” | AFP
