Ben Stokes has admitted that one of his first responsibilities after returning as England captain was to apologise to his teammates following the nightclub controversy that forced him to miss the second Test against New Zealand.
Stokes and Gus Atkinson were made unavailable for England’s second Test after breaching team curfew following the first Test at Lord’s. In Stokes’ absence, Joe Root returned as stand-in captain, but England suffered a heavy 253-run defeat at The Oval, allowing New Zealand to level the series 1-1.
Speaking ahead of the third and final Test at Trent Bridge, Stokes accepted that his actions had affected far more than just himself. “Of course. That was one of the first things I had to do as a captain,” Stokes said at the pre-match press conference.
“You look at the situation, and it affects more than just myself. It affected Joe Root, the squad, the people outside the playing environment. It no doubt had an effect on lads who were making their debut. That should have been all about them. Unfortunately a situation outside of their control took precedence over their big days, making their debut for England in Test cricket. It would be stupid and naive of me not to acknowledge and address that.”
Stokes said leadership required accountability, especially when the team had been put under pressure because of events away from the field.
“It’s all well, everything being fine and dandy when it’s all going well, but you need to take responsibility for things. You need to be big enough and man enough to take that upon your shoulders, and look everyone who it has affected in the eye and apologise the way you need to apologise. That is something that I did,” he said.
The England captain said he addressed the squad after returning and made it clear that his focus had shifted fully to the series-deciding Test.
“Yesterday, the important thing for me as captain of the team was making sure that I was letting the lads know that I am back properly as the captain of this team. 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,” Stokes said.
