Ben Stokes dropped with Joe Root named England captain

Ben Stokes has been left out of England’s squad for the second Test against New Zealand for breaking curfew, leading to a shock return to captaincy for Joe Root ahead of Harry Brook.

Test captain Stokes has been stood down from the squad pending an investigation into his and Gus Atkinson’s conduct in the early hours of Monday morning after England’s win at Lord’s.

In his absence, the team’s elder statesman Root has been charged with taking over as interim captain over vice-captain Brook.

At 35, Root will lead the side four years after he resigned, broken by the burden of the job following one win in his last 17 Tests.

He returned to the ranks under Stokes and has shown the finest form of his career. Root led England in a record 64 Tests between 2017 and 2022, but the prospect of him doing the job again seemed non-existent.

He will do the job on an interim basis ahead of Brook, who was himself embroiled in a late-night drinking incident that led to the introduction of a new drinking code of conduct.

The curfew was only brought back by England, with the strong support of Stokes, after it emerged at the end of a boozy Ashes tour that Brook had been punched by a bouncer in the early hours before captaining the ODI side in Wellington in November. Brook was fined the maximum amount and put on a final warning, but not sacked or banned from any matches. England hushed the incident up, until Telegraph Sport revealed it in the hours after the final Ashes Test was lost in Sydney, confirming a 4-1 series defeat.

Stokes became one of the first players to breach that curfew. After England went 1-0 up in the series against New Zealand, he and Atkinson stayed out after midnight, when it is understood Saracens academy rugby player Totoa Auvaa aimed a punch at Atkinson, missed, and instead left England’s security guard James Shaw requiring stitches.

England have left both Stokes and Atkinson out for the second Test at the Oval, which starts on Wednesday, and director of cricket Rob Key is expected to address the media on the matter on Thursday morning.

Stokes is at home in the north-east, and met his management on Wednesday to discuss his future. He has pondered retiring from England duty altogether in the wake of an incident that initially left him devastated, and is weighing up whether he wants to continue as captain, more than four years into his tenure. England are expected to remain in constant dialogue with him as emotions settle.

In a column for Telegraph Sport, former captain Michael Vaughan threw his support behind Stokes’s captaincy. He wrote: “Yes, Ben Stokes broke a curfew. Yes, he made a mistake. But is that a sacking offence as England’s Test captain? I don’t think so.”

Steve Harmison, the former England fast bowler, was determined Stokes should not step down.

“He’s one of the best captains we’ve ever had,” Harmison said on Talksport. “To lose him because he’s stayed out after 12 o’clock – the world has gone mad.”

In the absence of Stokes and Atkinson, Jofra Archer returns to the squad for the second Test, having missed Lord’s because he was having a break in Barbados after the IPL. He returns to the country on Thursday and, if ready, could replace Atkinson with the new ball. Jordan Cox, the Essex batsman, has also been called up.

Replacing Stokes’s all-round capabilities is more tricky. Spin-bowling all-rounder Rehan Ahmed and wicketkeeper-batsman James Rew are in the squad. Either could come in for Stokes, but that would likely cost Shoaib Bashir his place as the spinner on an Oval pitch that has suited seamers in recent years. Bashir did not bowl an over in the Lord’s Test, so could make way for Sonny Baker in a rebalanced attack.

Atkinson has been at the Oval over the last two days. He has shown no ill-effects from his early-hours escapades and has even been bowling sharply before play in Surrey’s Championship match against Hampshire.

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