At least England were finished by noon this time. New Zealand’s wrapping up of second Test victory inside 50 minutes on a sleepy Sunday morning at the Oval left the afternoon clear for what one would assume was a rather quieter post-match period than that which had followed Lord’s – for Brendon McCullum’s squad at least. After the Ashes, it was suggested that the England head coach was not doing enough media; in this series, that seems to have been addressed but his latest public utterings only served to make more of a mess.
What is clear is that Ben Stokes will be back to captain England at Trent Bridge from Thursday, and will, in all likelihood, have Gus Atkinson alongside him, too. An internal ECB investigation found that the pair’s absence from the second Test was sufficient punishment for what is now described vaguely as a breach of “specific contractual obligations that require England players to at all times maintain the highest standards of conduct and act in the best interests of England cricket”. The blame for the altercation that allegedly left a member of England’s security team needing stitches was laid squarely elsewhere. “Stokes was not involved in the altercation and did not witness either incident,” a statement continued. “The evidence the ECB has seen demonstrates that Atkinson was the victim of unprovoked attacks and did not retaliate on either occasion.”
