Ben Stokes has apologised to his teammates and Joe Root for letting the team down. The England Test captain and Gus Atkinson broke the midnight curfew and were involved in an altercation in a Chelsea nightclub on June 8, which resulted in the security detail with them requiring stitches.
Ben Stokes apologises for actions
Subsequently, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) suspended them, and the duo missed the second Test of the England vs New Zealand series. However, Stokes or Atkinson weren’t found guilty of anything other than breaching the curfew protocol. However, their absence saw England lose the Test and level the series at 1-1.
Instead of Sonny Baker, Jordan Cox, Matt Fisher, or James Rew getting the attention of either making their Test debut or returning to the side, all the attention was on Stokes. The only reason England made sweeping changes was that they weren’t available, and that hampered the home side.
“Of course (I apologised). That was one of the first things I had to do as a captain. You look at the situation, and it affects more than just myself. It affected Joe, the squad, and the people outside the playing environment. It had an effect on lads who were making their debut. That should have been all about them, but unfortunately, a situation outside of their control took precedence over their big days, making their debut for England in Test cricket.
It would be stupid and naive of me not to acknowledge and address that. It’s something you have to do as someone who has the responsibility of being a leader in a group. It’s all fine and dandy when it’s all going well, but you need to take responsibility for things as well. You need to be big enough and man enough to take that upon your shoulders and look everyone who it has affected in the eye and apologise the way you need to apologise. That is something that I did,” Stokes told reporters in Nottingham.
Lauds Joe Root for stepping up
Stokes, in particular, felt that Joe Root was hard done by. In his absence, he was forced to step up and lead the side. The team was left depleted with Jamie Smith unavailable, Ollie Robinson injured, and Jofra Archer returning without any red-ball cricket under his belt. Root’s captaincy was criticised despite him not having anyone to lean upon.
Root could’ve denied taking the responsibility because he knew he’d get criticised regardless. But took one for the team. He’s done that throughout his career and stood up again when it mattered the most. Stokes felt he let Root and his other teammates down and hopes to make up to them.
“As his friend, it was hard to see the reaction that he got. That’s something that hurt me because I’m very close with Joe. As I said, when something happens, it is obviously going to affect someone else, and seeing the effect that it had on Joe from public opinion was hard to see and read from my point of view. That shouldn’t take away the courage that Joe showed in taking that on that week. It would have been very, very easy for him to have said, ‘Nah, I don’t need this.’ But yet again, he put the team first, as he’s done on multiple occasions.
“It was tough to watch from a few different angles, watching the guys lose and go through the emotions of losing the Test match. It’s never nice because I know what that feels like, losing. But then seeing some of the reaction that Joe undeservedly got was something that hurts you, not only as a colleague, but as a friend,” he added.
Ben Stokes apologises to Joe Root & England teammates for nightclub fiasco ahead of ENG vs NZ 3rd Test Inside Sport India.
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