Ben Stokes, the captain of England’s Test team, may declare his retirement after he and teammate Gus Atkinson were involved in a nightclub altercation.
After England defeated New Zealand by 115 runs in the first Test of the summer at Lord’s, the incident occurred on Sunday night.
Stokes is expected to resign from his position and may make a retirement announcement, according to a TalkSport report on Tuesday.
An investigation into the incident, which also allegedly involved a rugby player, has already been started by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
After the first Test against New Zealand ended, the ECB is looking into a violation of team protocols. An altercation occurred early on Monday morning while Stokes and Atkinson were at a nightclub.
“We are currently seeking further information, and an announcement regarding the squad for the second Test will be made in due course. The Cricket Regulator has been informed and we will provide a further update when possible,” ECB said.
The team’s vice-captain, Harry Brook, expressed regret for a fight he had with a bouncer in New Zealand last year.
Steve Harmison, a former pacer for England, defended Stokes.
“When the full facts come to light, then I think we can make judgement. Ben’s a great kid. He’s an honest lad and he’s somebody who will know whether he’s overstepped the boundaries or not,” Harmison told TalkSport.
“I’m fully behind him and he’ll do whatever needs to be the right thing to be done in this situation once the facts come out. So I’ve got no issue with that. I’ve known Ben since he was 15 years old.
“What I want to happen now is to make sure there’s a protective arm around Atkinson and Stokes at the minute because there’s a duty of care from a team point of view to make sure their mental well-being is all right.
“Because we don’t know the facts and there’s a lot of things going on here, but there’s two lads here who I think need looking after from a team point of view.”
On June 17, The Oval will host the second Test match against New Zealand.
