The questions facing England after awful fortnight

By

Cricket Correspondent at The Oval

At the end of an extraordinary fortnight, English cricket is dealing with the consequences of another controversy.

Captain Ben Stokes and pace bowler Gus Atkinson will face no further action following an incident that occurred in a London nightclub, and have returned to the squad for the third Test against New Zealand starting on Thursday at Trent Bridge.

The fallout will hang over the decider in Nottingham, with England desperate for a series win following their awful Ashes tour.

Stokes and Atkinson may have been cleared, but questions remain over the entire England set-up.

Captain Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum were all smiles after England won the first Test at Lord's, apparently on the same page after a bruising Ashes winter. In the run-up to the home summer, both men denied Australia had damaged their relationship.

Assessing where they are after this episode is mainly done through the words of McCullum. The New Zealander has spoken and Stokes is yet to.

Two days before the second Test, for which Stokes was absent, McCullum repeatedly spoke of his "worry" and "concern" for the all-rounder. However, when Stokes returned to play for his county, Durham chief executive Tim Bostock said he was "bemused" by McCullum's take.

Two things can be true at the same time. McCullum said he has been in daily contact with Stokes, and could have been given cause for concern. Meanwhile, the 35-year-old could have felt relaxed with Durham, away from everything going on with England.

Before the Test, McCullum would not be drawn on Stokes' future as a player or captain. He may have genuinely not known, and probably had a right to be frustrated it was Stokes, of all people, who had allowed himself to be caught up in a nightclub incident.

Following a crushing defeat in the second Test, McCullum confirmed Stokes' return and said: "I anticipate we'll be able to work together really well in the week coming and I'm sure that both of us have that same vision for this cricket team."

Stokes will speak to the media on Wednesday, while England train in Nottingham for the first time on Tuesday. There will be plenty of interested observers.

Stokes' mistrust of those who were a "suit" was fostered in the aftermath of the incident outside a Bristol nightclub in 2017 that almost cost him his career.

He felt let down by the hierarchy and made his feelings known after his starring role in the 2019 World Cup final. Stokes was asked for a selfie by "someone who wears a suit". His response is unprintable.

Neither England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould nor chair Richard Thompson have spoken publicly on this latest episode. The official message from the ECB is that Stokes was not asked to resign.

However, speaking on the BBC's Today at the Test, former England captain Michael Vaughan said: "There were people briefing they did not want Ben Stokes to come back as England captain. He will know that."

Ex-England skipper Alastair Cook added: "Where is the actual leadership? Why has McCullum had to deal with it? People who are making decisions are hiding away from the media."

Stokes, one of the greatest to ever play for England, is in a strong position.

English cricket could find another chair, chief executive, director of cricket or coach, but it will not find another Stokes. It would be a brave individual who tries to take him on.

A midnight curfew was enforced on the England team after the Ashes tour was dogged by off-field issues.

When the ECB first released details of the Stokes-Atkinson episode, the governing body said the pair had breached the curfew. It was confirmed the curfew was still in place despite the completion of the first Test and the second being more than a week away.

However, four days later, England director of cricket Rob Key revealed Atkinson did not know the curfew was in force, leading to the question of who knew what, and how the curfew was communicated.

In the aftermath of the second Test, McCullum said there was an "ambiguity" over the terms of the curfew and that it had not been put in writing. The coach said standards would be "better documented".

There are different ways to look at this. On one hand, has an England environment often accused of being sloppy once again overlooked the details?

But do grown men - professional athletes - really need their bedtime to be put in writing? Plenty outside the team knew about the curfew, so how had the players managed to avoid hearing about it?

After all that happened in Australia, should the players not be taking it upon themselves to quell talk of a drinking culture and act like high-performance sportsmen?

The curfew remains in place for the third Test at Trent Bridge.

Hugely.

England had to make five changes for the second Test - admittedly not all because of Stokes' absence - and they could make at least another four for the third.

Without Stokes, even a Stokes who has not been at his best with the bat, England lose their balance. At The Oval they had to pick Jordan Cox as an extra batter at number seven to protect a long tail, and their desire for four seamers meant spinner Shoaib Bashir was squeezed out.

With Stokes, England have the required amount of batting and a rounded attack.

From the team that played at The Oval, England will definitely omit James Rew and Sonny Baker, who are not in the squad, and probably Cox and Matthew Fisher. In would come Stokes, Atkinson, Bashir and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, returning after paternity leave.

England could even make a fifth change if they decide not to risk Jofra Archer in back-to-back Tests, especially if Ollie Robinson is fit after a knee problem.

One silver lining to Stokes' absence could be the time he spent in the middle for Durham. A 95 against Northamptonshire was his highest score in nearly a year.

Eight years ago, Stokes' first Test after he was cleared of charges of affray over the Bristol incident was at Trent Bridge. He was booed by sections of the crowd.

There will surely be no repeat this time around. Initial frustration over Stokes' involvement in the Rex Rooms episode appears to have given way to support for the skipper. Nottingham will be rocking when he comes out to bat.

However, there is no escaping the impatience with England's results and the crisis-to-crisis reputation the game is struggling to shake.

The management were backed after the Ashes thumping, but the demand was to turn things around quickly.

There was the question as to what could happen to the hierarchy if England lose the series against New Zealand. Pressure for heads to roll would potentially be irresistible.

We may only be a week or so from finding out.