Ben Stokes has issued a heartfelt apology to the England Test team before his return as captain in the series decider in Nottingham.
Stokes, along with fast bowler Gus Atkinson, missed the second Test defeat at the Oval while under investigation for a breach of the team’s curfew after the opening win against New Zealand at Lord’s.
Having been given a written warning in a convoluted disciplinary process, he rejoined the team for training at Trent Bridge on Tuesday and started by apologising for the difficulties he had caused.
Stokes reserved a particularly sincere apology for his friend Joe Root, who stepped in as captain at the Oval. Stokes said it hurt to see Root “undeservedly” criticised for his captaincy, with Geoffrey Boycott writing in Telegraph Sport that the former captain had “learnt nothing”.
“Of course [I apologised],” said Stokes. “That was one of the first things I had to do as a captain. You look at the situation, and it affects more than just myself. It affects a lot of people, it affected Joe, 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, but unfortunately a situation outside of their control took precedence over their big days, making their debuts for England in Test cricket.
“It would be stupid and naive of me not to acknowledge and address that. It’s something you do have to do, as someone who has responsibility of being a leader in a group. It’s all fine and well everything being fine and dandy when it’s all going well, but you need to take responsibility for things as well.
“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.
“Joe Root and I have known each other since we were kids. He got put into a situation which he never thought would be bestowed upon him again having walked away from the captaincy.
“It showed that not only is he one of the greats of the game in terms of on the field, but it shows a lot about his character and seeing him stand up and take that responsibility on last week.
“For me as his friend, it was hard to see the reaction that he got. That is something that hurt me because I’m very close with Joe. Seeing the effect it had on Joe was hard to see and read from my point of view. He showed courage in taking that on. It would have been very easy to say I don’t need this. But he put the team first as he has done on so many occasions.
“It was tough to watch from a few different angles. It was tough to watch the guys lose, because I’ve been through that and know how it feels.”
Stokes was keen to focus on the week ahead, and did not commit to the captaincy beyond the third Test.
“This has been something that has happened and taken a lot of attention away from the series but I want to make sure my focus is where it needs to be,” said Stokes.
“Right now my focus is on the team, on the series, we’re 1-1 in a three-match series. This week is massive for this team regardless of what’s gone on. We’ve always had some very good series against New Zealand we’re back at Trent Bridge where we’ve done some special things.”
Stokes added that there was a “big misconception” that he and Brendon McCullum, the coach, had fallen out in recent months. McCullum said last week that he was “worried” about Stokes.
“Friends care for each other,” he said. “If someone is worried about one of their friends, how they portray that in front of a lot of people is a hard thing to do. I know what he meant.”
The final question...
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“I’m glad someone has asked about the cricket,” says Stokes, to the final question, which is about England’s good memories of Trent Bridge.
Stokes apologised to his team-mates
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“One of the first things I had to do as a captain [was apologise to the team]. It affected a lot of people, Joe, the squad, and others. It had an effect on the lads making their debut.
“It would be stupid and naive of me not to acknowledge that. You have to take responsibility for things, be big and man enough to look everyone in the eye and apologise.”
Did he consider jacking it all in?
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He doesn’t really answer the question, but talks about speculation.
More on Ben and Brendon
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“We certainly haven’t drifted apart as has been the big speculation about it. When you go through some difficult times you find another side to a relationship that you never thought you could have. You don’t plan on going through something like this together in a professional environment., Me and Brendon were talking pretty much every day... but when the game started [McCullum focused on the game]. Maybe in the future we look back on this and go this did bring us closer.”
On watching the second Test and Root’s captaincy
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“I was playing for Durham, I was watching how things were going. I guess for me, Joe Root in particular is someone who... we’ve known each other since we were kids. He got put into a situation which he never thought would have to be bestowed on him again after walking away from the captaincy. For him to stand up and take that responsibility shows a lot about his character. As a friend it was hard to see the reaction that he got and for me that’s something that hurt me.
“As I said at the start, everyone... when something happens that is obviously going to affect someone else. Seeing the effect that had on Joe from public opinion was hard to see and read. But that shouldn’t take away the courage that Joe showed in taking that on this week. It would have been very easy for him to say, no I don’t need this but again he put the team first.”
On his 95 runs for Durham...
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“It’s good to get some runs to be honest. Nice to get out there and find things that I’ve been trying to find. When you simplify things it is amazing. I just cleared my mind of everything and made it pretty simple and go out there and react to the ball whereas before that I was thinking about too much before the ball ended up coming down.
“It’s a pretty simple game when you think about that. I was maybe just overcomplicating things before... I had a real clear mind going into the game with training. Maybe being on the front pages for the wrong reasons could be good for my cricket.”
Did he speak with Atkinson?
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“I spoke with Gus quite a lot over the period. I said to him it’s not my first rodeo with something like this. It’s tough, it’s not easy to go through but it will be alright. Just let time do its thing. When you are going through something like this for the first time, you still don’t know what it’s going to be like. I made an active decision to make sure I kept in contact with Gus as much as I could just to reassure him that everything would be OK, even though it didn’t feel like initially it would be.”
Make no mistake...
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Ben Stokes is very focused on the game ahead at Trent Bridge...
Stokes is dead-batting questions about the curfew...
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“I understand there’s a lot of questions that you guys want to ask... but I hope that you expect that in this whole week. This has been something that has happened and has obviously taken a lot of attention away from the serious but I want to make sure my attention is where it needs to be. Right now I am here as captain as team and all I am trying to do is get the team focused on [winning].”
On the curfew
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Did he know it was in place and does he support it?
“I think, the process of this whole disciplinary thing has been done from two different angles and the outcome of that. That has all been done. Me and Gus are back here, playing cricket. I’m captaining this week, he’s back out there as a player.”
Ready to go?
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“I feel great. Also that’s one thing for me, it’s over the last two weeks there’s been a lot going on and the support that I felt like I got from the fans of not just English cricket but cricket in general was actually quite overwhelming. That is something I don’t want to be overlooked. I’m looking forward to getting back to it.”
What did McCullum mean when he said he was ‘worried’ about Stokes?
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“Friends care for each other, don’t they? Just like I think anyone else would. If someone else was worried about their friends, how they portray that in front of quite a lot of people, it’s not an easy thing to do, I don’t think. So, I think just give Brendon a break on all that.
“It was a hard thing for him to do... I know what he was meaning, he cares about me, he cares about members of that team as well. I think don’t read into his words too much.”
Did he fear losing the captaincy and did he consider stepping down?
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“There’s been a lot of speculation flying around over the last couple of weeks. The process has been done, it’s finished, me and Gus are back here doing what we love.
“There’s been a big misconception around this with me and Brendon. Me and Brendon have a professional relationship... but then we’ve also got a relationship away from that. We generally are very good mates... we have been through some testing times, we’ve been through some [great] times.
“Do we agree on everything? Absolutely not. Do we have discussions around things? Absolutely. And those discussions end both of us getting into the place where we can make a good decision. Not agreeing on everything shouldn’t be seen as a divide between me and Brendon.
“Me and Brendon, our relationship goes behind me being captain and him being coach.”
Did he feel supported by McCullum?
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“I think you look at the whole situation, it’s affected quite a lot of people in many different ways. It’s affected Rob, Brendon, myself, Gus and also the team and fans of English cricket. We’ve been through the process, we’ve got to the end of it, me and Gus are back in the team now... I am back in my role as captain. We know that we’ve got a big role to play this week in trying to get the series win.”
Stokes says focus on the cricket
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“Pretty interesting couple of weeks. I think the main thing about me being back, Gus being back is for us to obviously focus on the main objective, which Obviously is the cricket this week. There has been a lot going on... there’s no hiding from that. One of the big things about me and Gus coming back... is we try our best to get the teams to focus. It’s 1-1 in the series, we’ve got one more game left.”
Welcome
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Ben Stokes is about to speak at a press conference before the third Test against New Zealand. It his first since the his return to the Test captaincy and squad since he was dropped after the Lord’s Test for a disciplinary issue.
The press conference is scheduled to start imminently, so we will bring you the latest on what he says.