England head coach Brendon McCullum has confirmed that Ben Stokes will return as captain for the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, beginning Thursday.
Stokes was made unavailable for the second Test, along with pace bowler Gus Atkinson, pending an investigation into an incident at a London nightclub. England lost that match by 253 runs. The results of the investigation have not yet been revealed, but McCullum told BBC Sport the captaincy question is settled.
"Ben will be back," said McCullum. "He'll be back and he'll be captain."
Stokes has held the captaincy since 2022. During his absence, Joe Root stepped in and led the side through the second Test defeat. Root told BBC Sport he does not know what will happen next with the England captaincy.
McCullum said England director of cricket Rob Key visited Stokes during the week. Stokes returned to competitive cricket for Durham against Northamptonshire in the County Championship and struck 95, his highest score in any cricket since last July. He and Atkinson were then withdrawn from their county matches on Sunday to prepare for the third Test.
"I've been speaking to Ben every single day since we had the incident and my assessment was that I was worried about him," McCullum said. "To see him go out there and play some cricket and look like he was enjoying himself is really positive. I'm not going to divulge our conversations because they are confidential but it's great to see him back playing and I look forward to seeing him in a couple of days."
The nightclub incident is the latest in a series of off-field issues surrounding England's cricket program. Following a 4-1 Ashes series defeat in Australia, both Stokes and McCullum denied that their working relationship had broken down. Then, after England won the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's, Stokes broke the team's midnight curfew while celebrating the result.
McCullum addressed his relationship with Stokes directly. "We've worked together intimately for four years," he said. "We've achieved some cool things and let ourselves down in other things. Our motivation, belief and ambition for this side has not wavered. We have robust conversations all the way through and I think that is to be expected when you're in positions of leadership. There is a mutual respect to how we operate with those. I anticipate we'll be able to work together really well in the week coming and I'm sure that both of us have that same vision for this cricket team."
McCullum also noted that his concern for Stokes as a person had been at the forefront of his thinking throughout the episode. When he spoke to media two days before the second Test at The Oval, he repeatedly referenced his worry for Stokes personally.
The third Test at Trent Bridge begins Thursday.
