Brendon McCullum confirms Ben Stokes's return as England captain in third Test

LONDON: England head coach Brendon McCullum on Sunday confirmed that regular Test captain Ben Stokes will lead the home side in their third and final match of the ongoing red-ball home series against New Zealand, scheduled to be played in Nottingham from June 25 to 29.

Stokes, who has been England's Test captain since 2022, was left out of the Three Lions' squad for the recently concluded second home Test against New Zealand due to investigation over him allegedly breaking the team's curfew and an altercation with Saracens Rugby player Totoa Auvaa following their 115-run victory in the series opener.

Veteran batter Joe Root led England in the second Test in Stokes's absence, which concluder earlier today and saw the touring side prevailing by a massive 253-run margin.

With the home series now squared at 1-1, England coach McCullum confirmed that the enterprising all-rounder will return for the high-stakes fixture, adding that their squad will be announced this afternoon.

"Firstly Ben will be back, we'll name the squad this afternoon. Ben will be back and be captain. Everyone is excited about that," McCullum said.

Ahead of his snub from The Oval Test, reports within international media had emerged that Stokes would meet his advisers to determine his future amid growing speculation that he could retire from international cricket.

The all-rounder, however, returned to action, and in his lone outing for Durham in their County Championship fixture against Northamptonshire, played a 95-run knock, which was his highest score in all of cricket since his Test hundred against India in July last year.

While McCullum welcomed Stokes' return to form with the bat, he also shared to have remained in contact with the England Test captain since the nightclub incident but denied giving insights into their conversations, deeming them private.

"People will always have difference of opinion, that's the way things are. People read things differently. I've been speaking to Ben every day since we had the incident, obviously trying to be supportive," McCullum had said.

"I think it's great he was able to play this week and get some runs, and hopefully rediscover some of that form. We know that a fit and firing, and performing at optimum level, Ben Stokes is an asset that every team would like.

"Those conversations with Stokesy, they're private; I won't go into those at all. But people can assess their view of things differently. But I care about Ben and am pleased that he was able to get some game time [for Durham] and a bit of pep in his step as well," he continued.