Sawt Falasteen - England captain Stokes 'man enough' to apologise after curfew breach

Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson were dropped from the second Test against New Zealand after breaking a midnight curfew in an incident at a London nightclub celebrating England's first win in the series opener at Lord's.

In their absence, an England team led by stand-in captain Joe Root and showing five changes -- including three debutants -- suffered a 253-run thrashing at the Oval as New Zealand levelled the series at 1-1 heading into the Nottingham finale at Trent Bridge starting on Thursday.

The curfew breach came when it seemed England were moving on from the drinking controversies that marred their 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.

But English cricket chiefs have now decided no further action is needed against Stokes and Atkinson, both of whom are back in the side.

Stokes, in his first public comment since he was omitted from the second Test, told reporters at a pre-match press conference at Trent Bridge on Wednesday that he had apologised to his teammates.

"That was one of the first things I had to do as a captain," he said.

"You look at the situation, and it affects more than just myself.

"It affects a lot of people, it affected Joe (Root), the squad, the people outside the playing environment.

"It no doubt had an effect on lads who were making their debut."

The 35-year-old all-rounder added that it had been important "to take responsibility" for his actions.

"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," he said.

"That is something that I did."

Stokes, who made 95 for county side Durham last week, said that his attention had turned to guiding England to a series win.

"Right now my focus is on the team, on the series -- we're 1-1 in a three-match series," he said. "This week is massive for this team regardless of what's gone on."

F.AbuShamala--SF-PST