{"id":739802,"date":"2026-06-16T08:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/739802\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T08:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:54:11","slug":"cricket-news-2026-england-coach-brendon-mccullum-breaks-silence-after-ben-stokes-nightclub-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/739802\/","title":{"rendered":"Cricket news 2026: England coach Brendon McCullum breaks silence after Ben Stokes nightclub incident"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brendon McCullum<\/a> admitted he was left \u201cgutted\u201d after the nightclub incident involving England<\/a> captain Ben Stokes<\/a> and fast bowler Gus Atkinson.<\/p>\n

England\u2019s head coach learned his two players breached curfew after the first Test victory over New Zealand last week, and later became entangled in an altercation where a security member was reportedly struck by a Saracens rugby player<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Gus<\/p>\n

Gus Atkinson and Ben Stokes in happier times during the Ashes.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

Stokes and Atkinson are both under investigation following the incident and were made unavailable for selection for the second Test against New Zealand<\/a>. <\/p>\n

There have since been major question marks surrounding Stokes\u2019 future as skipper<\/a>, while there have also been suggestions he could retire.<\/p>\n

Speaking publicly for the first time since the incident, McCullum couldn\u2019t hide his disappointment, but said those feeling quickly turned to care for their wellbeing. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo hear about this was incredibly gutting,\u201d McCullum told reporters. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first found out about it, I was slightly bewildered. You then go through a range of emotions, from being bewildered to angry to gutted. <\/p>\n

\u201cQuickly, through talking to Ben and Gus, my emotion turned to worry and concern, for Ben in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stokes has been training with county side Durham since being made unavailable for England and is likely to play in their four-day match against Northamptonshire.<\/p>\n

There had been some speculation that he may retire off the back of the recent nightclub incident, but McCullum stressed no decision would be rushed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur concern is with Ben and handling that situation,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make sure we look after him, rally around him, and in time we\u2019ll get on to those sorts of decisions – whilst not overlooking the fact they (Stokes and Atkinson) have not lived up to the standards we have set for ourselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe keep communicating, checking daily. We have spoken every day since this incident unfolded. There\u2019s a range of emotions that Ben has gone through. <\/p>\n

\u201cI care about Ben and want to make sure we are doing the right thing by him. Ultimately doing the right thing by the team, also.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCullum reiterated that his playing group needs to start \u201ctrying to separate the action from the man\u201d as they continue on representing their nation. <\/p>\n

He also confirmed that he does not think his coach-captain relationship with Stokes has been \u201cstrained\u201d as a result of this incident, despite reports the pair may have been on rocky ground after losing the Ashes<\/a> 4-1 on Australian soil.<\/p>\n

\"McCullum<\/p>\n

McCullum provides an insight into his players’ actions.\u00a0Steven Paston<\/p>\n

The 44-year-old refused to say if Stokes will lose his captaincy<\/a> due to this matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to go through a process,\u201d McCullum said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI look at the time, the last four years I\u2019ve worked intimately with Ben.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen Ben be an unbelievable captain. I\u2019ve seen him at his absolute best as a captain and his best as a player. He\u2019s helped shape this environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had some incredible success doing it and I feel very lukcy that during that time we have worked so closely together. What will be will be down the line. <\/p>\n

\u201cThose decisions are not for now.\u201d <\/p>\n

Joe Root<\/a> will step in as captain for the second Test against New Zealand, with the first ball to be bowled on Wednesday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brendon McCullum admitted he was left \u201cgutted\u201d after the nightclub incident involving England captain Ben Stokes and fast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-739802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}