Ben Stokes has been withdrawn from Durham’s County Championship match against Northamptonshire following a request from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
The England captain has been on duty for his club this weekend after he was dropped from the second New Zealand Test following an incident at a nightclub in Chelsea earlier this month.
Saturday saw Stokes bowled just five runs off a century as he helped Durham claw their way back into the match, with his side trailing by 148 runs ahead of the first ball on Sunday.
Stokes – who is set to return to the England set-up ahead of the third Test starting on Thursday subject to investigation by the ECB – will be replaced in the 11 by Colin Ackermann.
Gus Atkinson, who was similarly dropped after breaking England’s team curfew with Stokes, has also been withdrawn from his Surrey side.
300 miles south of Chester-le-Street, England have been toiling without their captain, with New Zealand set to hand the team a memorable thumping at the Oval.
Ben Stokes has been withdrawn from the remainder of Durham’s test versus Northamptonshire
Stokes’ team-mate Josh Tongue confirmed that despite his handing the armband to the experienced Joe Root, the all-rounder was missed in south London.
‘Stokesy is an unbelievable player,’ Tongue said when informed of Stokes’ strong showing for Durham. ‘I made my England debut when he was captain.
‘I’ve got huge respect for Stokesy and it’s always nice seeing him get some runs.”
‘Yeah, we’ve missed him. Obviously we’ve got a lot of leaders in our team as well.
‘Rooty stepping in as captain is an unbelievable player and an unbelievable leader as well. It’s been good.’
The ECB had been able to keep an eye on Stokes – whose mental state over returning to the set-up next week has been a source of speculative tumult for the England hierarchy – with Marcus North, the England selector, and the ECB’s elite bowling coach Neil Killeen in the stands to watch his performance on Friday.
After initial concern that Stokes might consider quitting international cricket all together, if not his captaincy, the ECB’s decision to recall Stokes suggests that they are keen to keep his strong form on ice for revenge against the tourists.
Stokes and Atkinson broke curfew after the first Test, before becoming involved with a fracas at Rex Rooms which saw Saracens star Totoa Auvaa attempt to punch Atkinson.
The 125kg rugby player instead struck an ECB security guard, with neither player injured in what has been described as an argument over seating in the VIP section.
England coach Brendon McCullum admitted that he had been ‘gutted’ when the news broke.
‘When I first found out about it, I was slightly bewildered,’ he said. ‘You go from being bewildered, on to angry, on to gutted.
‘From the progress which we talked about over the last six months and what we’re trying to do with the side – to hear about this was incredibly gutting.’
