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England captain Ben Stokes has finally addressed the speculation surrounding his future and the fallout from the recent nightclub controversy that temporarily sidelined him from the national team.
Speaking ahead of the series-deciding third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, Stokes dismissed retirement chatter and insisted his full focus remains on helping England clinch the series.
The 35-year-old returned to the squad after being cleared by both the ECB and the independent Cricket Regulator following an investigation into an incident at a London nightclub earlier this month. While Ben Stokes was willing to discuss his conversations with teammates and his commitment to the team, he notably avoided giving a direct answer when asked whether he supported England's curfew policy.
Ben Stokes addresses retirement speculation ahead of series decider
Ben Stokes admitted there had been significant discussion around him over the last two weeks but made it clear that his attention is firmly on cricket.
"Just so much speculation over the last couple of weeks. This week there’s probably a lot more riding on it than it normally would be going into the final game of a three-match series being 1-1.
"Yesterday the important thing for me as captain of the team was making sure that I was letting the lads know that I’m back properly as the captain of this team," Ben Stokes said at the press conference as quoted by SkySports.
"I did need to obviously say a few things and acknowledge a few things to the team, and the team only. And I feel like I voiced those quite well to everyone. I feel like I’ve also let them know where my concentration is, and it’s thoroughly on what we need to do this week.
"Everyone in the dressing room is fully aware of their responsibilities as players, and I’m fully aware of the responsibilities of me as captain to lead this team in a pretty important game.
"We didn’t get the result we wanted last week but we can’t change that, what we can affect and decide on is how we go about this week, and we’re desperate to get the result, I’m desperate to get the result and I think I’ve made a pretty good effort at making sure that the most important know that, which is the team."
The comments come after widespread reports questioned Ben Stokes' future as captain following the controversy and England's heavy defeat at The Oval.
Ben Stokes ducks curfew question after nightclub controversy
The controversy stemmed from events following England's 115-run win over New Zealand in the first Test at Lord's. Ben Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson breached the team's midnight curfew and attended the Rex Rooms nightclub in Chelsea.
An altercation later broke out involving members of the rugby club Saracens. Investigations subsequently determined that Atkinson was the victim of an unprovoked attack and that Stokes was not present when the incident occurred. While both players were cleared of any violent misconduct, they received written warnings for breaching team curfew rules.
When asked directly whether he supported the curfew policy, Ben Stokes avoided giving a clear answer.
"The process of this whole disciplinary thing has been done from two different angles, and you know the outcome of that, so that’s all been done," Ben Stokes said.
"Me and Gus, we’re back here playing cricket, I’m captaining this week, he’s back in the team as a player, and we’re going to try to win this week."
England suffered without Stokes as captain apologises to teammates
The incident had significant consequences for England. Both Stokes and Atkinson were stood down for the second Test at The Oval while investigations were ongoing. Harry Brook stepped into a leadership role, but England struggled badly and suffered a crushing 253-run defeat as New Zealand levelled the three-match series at 1-1.
Matt Henry starred for the visitors with match figures of 11 wickets, while Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell played key roles with the bat.
Ben Stokes revealed that one of his first actions upon returning to the squad was apologising to those affected by the situation.
"Yeah of course. That was one of the first things I had to do as a captain. You look at a situation and it obviously affects more than just myself. It affects a lot of people. Joe Root, the squad, people outside of the playing environment," Ben Stokes said.
"It no doubt had an affect on people making their debuts. That should have been all about them but unfortunately a situation outside of their control took precedent over their big days. It would be stupid and naive of me not to acknowledge and address that.
"It's something you do have to do as someone who has the responsibility of being the leader of the group. It's fine when it's all going well, but you do need to take responsibility also for things. And if it's on you to take responsibility, you need to be big enough and man enough to take it on your shoulders and look everyone in the eye that was affected and apologise. That's something that I did."
With both investigations now concluded and Ben Stokes reinstated as captain, England will hope to put the controversy behind them and focus solely on the series decider against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.
