{"id":18629,"date":"2026-06-08T23:47:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/nightclub-controversy-ben-stokes-gus-atkinson-face-ecb-probe-ahead-of-second-new-zealand-test-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T23:47:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:17:45","slug":"nightclub-controversy-ben-stokes-gus-atkinson-face-ecb-probe-ahead-of-second-new-zealand-test-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/nightclub-controversy-ben-stokes-gus-atkinson-face-ecb-probe-ahead-of-second-new-zealand-test-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Nightclub controversy! Ben Stokes, Gus Atkinson face ECB probe ahead of second New Zealand Test | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-131593343,imgsize-39888,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/ben-stokes-0806-getty.jpg\" alt=\"Nightclub controversy! Ben Stokes, Gus Atkinson face ECB probe ahead of second New Zealand Test\" title=\"Ben Stokes (Getty Images)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Ben Stokes (Getty Images)\">Ben Stokes (Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: England&#8217;s preparations for the second Test against New Zealand have been overshadowed by controversy, with captain <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/ben-stokes\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Ben Stokes<\/a> and all-rounder Gus Atkinson under investigation for an alleged breach of team protocols.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Tuesday that it is looking into an incident involving the two players following the conclusion of the first Test against New Zealand. England had won the opening match of the three-Test series by 115 runs at Lord&#8217;s.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>According to an official ECB statement, Stokes and Atkinson were present at a nightclub in the early hours of Monday morning when an incident took place.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/>&#8220;The ECB is currently investigating a breach of team protocols following the conclusion of the first Men&#8217;s Test against New Zealand,&#8221; the board said in a statement.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/>&#8220;Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were present at a nightclub in the early hours of Monday morning when an incident took place.&#8221;<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>The ECB said it is currently gathering additional information before deciding on any further action.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>&#8220;We are currently seeking further information, and an announcement regarding the squad for the second Test will be made in due course.&#8221;<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>The development has raised questions over the availability of both players for the second Test, with England yet to announce their squad for the match.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-pos=\"0\" class=\"id-r-component iIpbx undefined  &#10;        \">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\".\" msid=\"131593358\" width=\"\" title=\"\" placeholdersrc=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/83033472.cms\" imgsize=\"\" resizemode=\"4\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdermsid=\"47529300\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/msid-131593358\/.jpg\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/>The ECB also confirmed that the matter has been reported to the Cricket Regulator.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/>&#8220;The Cricket Regulator has been informed and we will provide a further update when possible.&#8221;<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"30\"\/>The incident comes as an unwelcome distraction for England, especially with Stokes captaining the side and Atkinson emerging as one of the key performers in the opening Test. <!-- -->The fast bowler finished the match with seven wickets and played a significant role in England&#8217;s victory.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/>At present, the ECB has not revealed the nature of the incident, and further details are expected once the investigation is completed.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/>The second Test between England and New Zealand is scheduled to be played at The Oval in London from June 17.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"38\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/cricket\/news\/nightclub-controversy-ben-stokes-gus-atkinson-face-ecb-probe-ahead-of-second-new-zealand-test\/articleshow\/131593342.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ben Stokes (Getty Images) NEW DELHI: England&#8217;s preparations for the second Test against New Zealand have been overshadowed by controversy, with captain Ben Stokes and all-rounder Gus Atkinson under investigation for an alleged breach of team protocols.The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Tuesday that it is looking into an incident involving the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}