England vs New Zealand, 2nd Test – Stokes, Atkinson omitted from second Test as Root steps up as interim captain

Joe Root will captain England against New Zealand at The Oval next week after Ben Stokes was deemed unavailable for selection following his role at a London nightclub in the early hours of Monday morning. Root has effectively jumped ahead of Harry Brook, England’s Test vice-captain and white-ball captain, and was described as “interim captain” by the ECB.

Root captained England in 64 Tests from 2017-22 but stepped down from the role after a run of one win in his final 17 Tests in charge, including a 4-0 defeat in Australia. He remained in the ranks as a senior player in Stokes’ team, but will take temporary charge for the second Test in a shock move announced on Wednesday afternoon.

Stokes is understood to be considering his future both as Test captain and as an England player altogether, and was due to meet with his advisers on Wednesday. The ECB said on Monday that it was “investigating a breach of team protocols” by Stokes and Atkinson, and that the incident had been referred to the Cricket Regulator.

Both players broke the midnight curfew that England’s management had introduced after an Ashes tour to Australia punctuated by stories about players’ off-field behaviour. “Given the ongoing investigation, Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson have not been made available for selection for the Rothesay second Test,” the ECB said in a further statement on Wednesday.

As Stokes’ vice-captain, Brook would have been the obvious replacement in any other circumstances, such an injury. But after Brook’s own late-night indiscretions in Wellington late last year – when he was “clocked” by a bouncer, attempting to enter a nightclub the night before he was due to captain England in an ODI – the ECB have opted for a safer pair of hands.

Stokes and Atkinson have been replaced in England’s squad by Jordan Cox and Jofra Archer respectively, leaving England with a decision to make about the balance of their side. There is no like-for-like replacement available as a seam-bowling allrounder, leaving a choice between an extra batter (Cox or James Rew) or a spin-bowling allrounder (Rehan Ahmed) at No. 7.

Archer is due back in the UK on Thursday, having been overlooked for the Lord’s Test on account of his stint with Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Head coach Brendon McCullum had warned on Sunday that Archer may not be an automatic pick as he continues to build up his red-ball workload, but he now looks highly likely to play in Atkinson’s absence.

Cox has twice been denied an impending Test debut by injury but has not played a first-class match since featuring for Essex in September last year. He only recently returned from India where he was an unused squad player in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL win, but has since featured for England Lions against South Africa A and hit 40 off 31 in the T20 Blast on Tuesday.

Rew is perhaps the most likely beneficiary from Stokes’ absence, and could win his first Test cap if selected at No. 7. But his inclusion would leave England with only four main bowling options, leaving open the possibility that Rehan could replace Shoaib Bashir as their spinner with four frontline seamers to follow from No. 8-11.

Bashir did not bowl a ball in the first Test on a seam-friendly surface rated ‘unsatisfactory’ by ICC match referee Andy Pycroft, and has been released to play for Derbyshire in their County Championship match against Durham starting on Friday ahead of next week’s second Test.

The second Test starts on June 17 at The Oval, and is quickly followed by the third Test at Trent Bridge on June 25.

England squad for second Test vs New Zealand: Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, James Rew, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue.

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