Due to the nightclub incident that led to their banishment from the second Test match against New Zealand last week, Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson will not be subject to any additional sanctions.
The England skipper and his teammate were essentially cleared by the Cricket Regulator’s decision on Monday, following their Sunday recall for Thursday’s final Test match at Trent Bridge against New Zealand.
Stokes and Atkinson were also cleared of any involvement in an altercation with Saracens rugby union player Totoa Auvaa that resulted in a member of the England security being bloodied, according to a parallel investigation conducted by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
In a statement, the Cricket Regulator, which has no jurisdiction over team protocols, stated: “The Cricket Regulator’s role is to determine whether any participant or player has breached any applicable ECB Cricket Regulations.
“The investigation followed multiple lines of enquiry to gather and assess evidence in relation to the events in question.
“Having carefully reviewed all currently available information, the Cricket Regulator has determined that there is insufficient evidence to establish that any regulatory breach occurred. Accordingly, no further action will be taken against either player.”
The Cricket Regulator, led by director Chris Haward, a former national chief constable lead for serious and organized crime, conducted interviews with Stokes and Atkinson. They later returned to county cricket, Stokes with Durham and Atkinson with Surrey, before being pulled by the ECB before of their Test returns.
On Monday, they are scheduled to join the team in Nottingham, and on Tuesday, they will practice at Trent Bridge. Stokes’ captain’s press conference is scheduled for this Wednesday.
According to the ECB investigation into the late-night visit to the Rex Rooms in Chelsea, Atkinson was the target of two “unprovoked attacks” for which he did not respond. Stokes, however, was discovered to be absent at the time.
It is still unclear if the two were aware that they were violating a team curfew.
Head coach Brendon McCullum acknowledged on Sunday that there might have been some “ambiguity” in the information provided to the Team England Player Partnership, according to Rob Key, the ECB’s general director of men’s cricket.
