England cricket captain Ben Stokes and teammate Gus Atkinson have been cleared of any wrongdoing by the independent Cricket Regulator over a nightclub incident that saw them miss last week’s Test against New Zealand — though both have received written warnings from the England and Wales Cricket Board for breaching “specific contractual obligations”.
The regulator, which does not cover team protocols, said in a statement that after a thorough investigation, it found “insufficient evidence to establish that any regulatory breach occurred”, adding: “The Cricket Regulator would like to thank all those involved for their cooperation throughout the investigation.” The ruling effectively clears the pair ahead of Thursday’s Rothesay Series decider against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, to which they have been recalled.
“Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson cleared by Cricket Regulator over nightclub incident but given written warnings by ECB.”
The parallel ECB probe into the late-night trip to the Rex Rooms in Chelsea concluded that Atkinson had been subjected to two “unprovoked attacks” to which he did not retaliate, while Stokes was found not to have been present at the time of the altercation involving Saracens rugby union player Totoa Auvaa. However, both were issued with written conduct warnings for contravening team rules.
The question of whether the duo knew they were in breach of a team curfew continues to linger. Rob Key, the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket, said relevant information was shared with the Team England Player Partnership, but head coach Brendon McCullum accepted on Sunday an element of “ambiguity” may have existed.
Stokes and Atkinson were interviewed by the regulator, headed up by director Chris Haward, a former national chief constable lead for serious and organised crime. They subsequently returned to county cricket — Stokes with Durham, Atkinson with Surrey — before being withdrawn by the ECB ahead of their Test recalls. They are due to join the squad in Nottingham on Monday, with a training session at Trent Bridge on Tuesday. Stokes is scheduled to hold his captain’s press conference on Wednesday, his first public words on the matter barring a short Instagram post wishing the team well in the Oval Test they went on to lose by 253 runs.
Former England bowler Stuart Broad, speaking on his For the Love of Cricket podcast, summed up the episode: “It feels like a lot of hullabaloo for ‘let’s just crack on’. Chaos… shambles… it cost England a Test match, for what?…”