Stokes captaincy under pressure after nightclub incident

Ben Stokes is weighing his future as England captain, several British media outlets reported Tuesday, following his involvement in a nightclub incident involving a Saracens rugby player.

Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson are under investigation by the England and Wales Cricket Board for allegedly breaching team curfew rules on Monday morning after England’s win in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s.

The ECB is also reviewing reports that the pair were involved in a physical altercation during the night out.

Britain’s Press Association identified the rugby player as Totoa Auvaa, a former Samoa A and Samoa Under-20 captain who stands 6 feet 5 inches (1.95 meters) and weighs 19 stone 8 pounds (124.28 kilograms).

A security guard who was with the England players was reportedly injured in the incident.

It is the latest controversy involving the England team following a tour of Australia in which the side faced allegations of a drinking culture during a 4-1 Ashes series loss that concluded in January.

The squad announcement for next week’s second Test at The Oval has been delayed, with growing concerns over whether Stokes can continue as England captain.

There would be no need to sack Stokes from the captaincy if the 35-year-old resigns from the role he has held since 2022.

There is also the possibility he could quit international cricket altogether.

There have been suggestions Stokes and Atkinson were unaware that a midnight curfew imposed on players after the Ashes remained in place, even though the first Test against New Zealand had concluded.

Stokes, as captain, would be expected to know the rules, while a failure to clearly communicate the terms of the curfew would reflect poorly on both England managing director Rob Key and coach Brendon McCullum.

Former England captain David Gower said Stokes’ position as captain was “in severe doubt.”

‘Mortified’
“One of the responsibilities of a captain is to set the right tone. If you’re leading, you have to set the right example,” Gower, 69, told the British broadcaster on Tuesday. “They have to sort it out. If you’ve agreed to a curfew, you have to abide by it.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Ben and most of the things he’s done over the last three years or so as England captain.

“He has become, or I probably have to use the past tense now, had become a very important figure as a leader of that team. I don’t know what he’s thinking at the moment. Regret could be the least of it. He will be mortified, I’m sure, to have put himself in that position in the early hours.

“It’s a misjudgment. You’ve put yourself in a bad position and you’ve put yourself at risk.”

Stokes spoke of giving up alcohol during his recovery from injury last year.

But soon after England completed a dominant 115-run win against New Zealand at Lord’s to go 1-0 up in a three-match series, he told reporters: “I won’t be really happy until I get to share a beer with the boys.”

If Stokes is stripped of the captaincy, vice-captain Harry Brook, already the skipper of England’s white-ball teams, could lead the side at The Oval.

This would represent a significant reversal of fortune for Brook, who was fined and censured for late-night drinking and an altercation with a nightclub bouncer before captaining England in a one-day international in Wellington in October.

That episode led England to impose a midnight curfew, with McCullum saying after the incident became public: “If you go back to the day I walked into the job, the first thing I said to these boys is, ‘Don’t do anything that lands you on the front page of the paper, and nothing good ever happens after midnight.’”

In 2017, Stokes was involved in an incident outside a nightclub in Bristol, southwest England, that led to him being charged with affray.

He later missed the 2017-18 Ashes tour before being found not guilty at Bristol Crown Court in August 2018.