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.
Stokes says focus is now on Trent Bridge decider
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.
“I feel I’ve also let them know where my concentration is, and it is thoroughly on what we need to do this week. Everyone in the dressing-room is fully aware of the responsibilities as players who got the call-up this week, and I’m fully aware of the responsibilities of me as captain to lead this team in a pretty important game.
“Yes, we didn’t get the result we wanted last week, but we can’t change that. What we can effect and decide on is how we go about this week. We’re desperate to get the results, I’m desperate to be the result. I think I’ve made a pretty good effort at making sure that the most important people know that, which is the team.”
Stokes also spoke about the criticism Root received after leading England in the second Test. Root had stepped in during a difficult week for the side and faced questions over some tactical decisions after the defeat.
“As his friend, it was hard to see the reaction that he got, and for me, that’s something that hurt me because I’m very close with Joe,” Stokes said. “As I said, when something happens, it is obviously going to affect someone else, and seeing the effect that it had on Joe from public opinion was hard to see and read from my point of view, if that makes sense. That shouldn’t take away the courage that Joe showed in taking that on that week. It would have been very, very easy for him to have said, ‘Nah, I don’t need this.’ But yet again, he put the team first as he’s done on multiple occasions.”
Stokes said watching England lose while Root faced criticism was difficult both professionally and personally.
“It was tough to watch from a few different angles, watching the guys lose and go through the emotions of losing the Test match. It’s never nice because I know what that feels like, losing. But then seeing some of the reaction that Joe undeservedly got was something that hurts you, not only as a colleague but as a friend,” he said.
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The England captain also admitted that the current scrutiny is the heaviest he and head coach Brendon McCullum have faced since taking charge of the Test side.
“Playing for your country comes with pressure regardless,” Stokes said. “Has the pressure on this team ramped up? Well, this is definitely the highest amount of pressure we’ve been under since me and Baz became coach and captain. That’s fine. It’s how you deal with it that proves if you’re a good leader or not.”
England now head into the Trent Bridge Test with the series level at 1-1, and with Stokes returning not only as captain but as a leader trying to repair trust inside the dressing room.
