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England Cricket 2026

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  • cantersaddick
    cantersaddick Posts: 18,162
    Addick Addict said:
    fenaddick said:
    So the Saracens player tried to punch Atkinson and hit an ECB minder. I’m sure more will come out but that sounds like their main error was breaking the curfew. Stokes might manage to get away with that 
    That's what Nick Hoult, the Telegraph cricket correspondent has put out on X:

    Full story on Stokes-Saracens incident * Rugby player understood to have thrown a punch at Gus Atkinson but connected with ECB security guard supervising the players (who needed stitches)* ECB sources are adamant the cricketers were “not the aggressors” at Chelsea nightclub.

    That begs the question - if there is a curfew, then what is an ECB security guard doing condoning that by allowing them to be there at that time?

    The other part of the rumour I heard was that Stokes "stepped in" after the Saracens rugby player threw that punch. Whatever "stepped in" means I don't know but, of course, Stokes didn't hold back in the Bristol incident, when defending others, for which he was cleared of any wrongdoing. If he did then he will have no choice other than to resign. 

    Even if Stokes didn't throw a punch, he still might not be in the clear given what McCullum said just last week:

    “The first thing I said to these boys is ‘don’t do anything that lands you on the front page of a newspaper’ and ‘nothing good happens after midnight,’ I’m not against making sure these boys have a good time in a controlled manner but it’s about looking after them to ensure they don’t make mistakes.”


    Trying to land one on Gus Atkinson is the only bit of the story that makes sense tbh.
  • Steven81
    Steven81 Posts: 1,432
    edited June 9
    I do rate stokes for all he's done over the years in the team with some amazing knocks and bowling efforts at times but honestly not that bothered if he gets dropped, actually been thinking he needed dropping anyway as apart from holding up an end and getting the odd wicket he's basically just becoming a captain and we've moved on since the brearley days.
  • Leuth
    Leuth Posts: 24,044
    cantersaddick said:
    Addick Addict said:
    fenaddick said:
    So the Saracens player tried to punch Atkinson and hit an ECB minder. I’m sure more will come out but that sounds like their main error was breaking the curfew. Stokes might manage to get away with that 
    That's what Nick Hoult, the Telegraph cricket correspondent has put out on X:

    Full story on Stokes-Saracens incident * Rugby player understood to have thrown a punch at Gus Atkinson but connected with ECB security guard supervising the players (who needed stitches)* ECB sources are adamant the cricketers were “not the aggressors” at Chelsea nightclub.

    That begs the question - if there is a curfew, then what is an ECB security guard doing condoning that by allowing them to be there at that time?

    The other part of the rumour I heard was that Stokes "stepped in" after the Saracens rugby player threw that punch. Whatever "stepped in" means I don't know but, of course, Stokes didn't hold back in the Bristol incident, when defending others, for which he was cleared of any wrongdoing. If he did then he will have no choice other than to resign. 

    Even if Stokes didn't throw a punch, he still might not be in the clear given what McCullum said just last week:

    “The first thing I said to these boys is ‘don’t do anything that lands you on the front page of a newspaper’ and ‘nothing good happens after midnight,’ I’m not against making sure these boys have a good time in a controlled manner but it’s about looking after them to ensure they don’t make mistakes.”


    Trying to land one on Gus Atkinson is the only bit of the story that makes sense tbh.
    Ooh, spill more.... 
  • cantersaddick
    cantersaddick Posts: 18,162
    Leuth said:
    cantersaddick said:
    Addick Addict said:
    fenaddick said:
    So the Saracens player tried to punch Atkinson and hit an ECB minder. I’m sure more will come out but that sounds like their main error was breaking the curfew. Stokes might manage to get away with that 
    That's what Nick Hoult, the Telegraph cricket correspondent has put out on X:

    Full story on Stokes-Saracens incident * Rugby player understood to have thrown a punch at Gus Atkinson but connected with ECB security guard supervising the players (who needed stitches)* ECB sources are adamant the cricketers were “not the aggressors” at Chelsea nightclub.

    That begs the question - if there is a curfew, then what is an ECB security guard doing condoning that by allowing them to be there at that time?

    The other part of the rumour I heard was that Stokes "stepped in" after the Saracens rugby player threw that punch. Whatever "stepped in" means I don't know but, of course, Stokes didn't hold back in the Bristol incident, when defending others, for which he was cleared of any wrongdoing. If he did then he will have no choice other than to resign. 

    Even if Stokes didn't throw a punch, he still might not be in the clear given what McCullum said just last week:

    “The first thing I said to these boys is ‘don’t do anything that lands you on the front page of a newspaper’ and ‘nothing good happens after midnight,’ I’m not against making sure these boys have a good time in a controlled manner but it’s about looking after them to ensure they don’t make mistakes.”


    Trying to land one on Gus Atkinson is the only bit of the story that makes sense tbh.
    Ooh, spill more.... 
    I mean nothing more than him coming across as a bit of a dick, even by Surrey standards....
  • North Lower Neil
    North Lower Neil Posts: 23,779
    edited June 9
    Steven81 said:
    I do rate stokes for all he's done over the years in the team with some amazing knocks and bowling efforts at times but honestly not that bothered if he gets dropped, actually been thinking he needed dropping anyway as apart from holding up an end and getting the odd wicket he's basically just becoming a captain and we've moved on since the brearley days.
    I'd agree with this if there was anyone else in the team who might be a vaguely decent captain.  Brook is the next man in line but the less said about his cricketing brain the better.

    Stokes's batting is regressing and he's only very occasionally properly fit to bowl, with him moving to 7 there's even more of a conversation to be had about whether that's better filled by someone else.

    Is Sam Curran a better choice at 7?

    Is Rehan Ahmed at 7 and an extra seamer rather than Bashir a better option?

    McCullum and Key won't drop Stokes permanently though, and no decent change will happen with those two still there shrugging at any issues.
  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 72,092
    edited June 9


    This seems to be the rugby player involved, 21-year-old Samoan Totoa Auvaa. 

    6ft 5in, 125kg (19st 9lb)

    From The Times

    The incident took place in the Rex Rooms nightclub on the King’s Road in Chelsea, which was hosting a late-night party advertised as a “Polo in the Park after party” — after the equestrian event that took place over the weekend at the Hurlingham Club. Stokes and Atkinson were in the same VIP section of the nightclub — hours after completing victory in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s — alongside the Saracens players who were celebrating the end of their season, having failed to reach the Gallagher Prem play-offs.

    The Saracens players and a group of England cricketers had been together in the White Horse pub in Fulham and also went to at least two other pubs in the Fulham area before moving on to Chelsea. The Times understands that about six or seven England cricketers had been out in the evening but the majority had gone back to the team hotel in Kensington before the midnight curfew that has been imposed on England players since allegations of late-night drinking on their winter tours. Only Stokes, Atkinson and the ECB security guard were in the Rex Rooms after midnight.

    Both the ECB and Saracens are conducting their own investigations into the events but ECB sources are insistent that neither Stokes, 35, nor Atkinson, 28, were the aggressors in the incident. It is not clear if any further punches were thrown after the original one that hit the member of ECB security staff.
  • Steven81
    Steven81 Posts: 1,432
    North Lower Neil said:
    Steven81 said:
    I do rate stokes for all he's done over the years in the team with some amazing knocks and bowling efforts at times but honestly not that bothered if he gets dropped, actually been thinking he needed dropping anyway as apart from holding up an end and getting the odd wicket he's basically just becoming a captain and we've moved on since the brearley days.
    I'd agree with this if there was anyone else in the team who might be a vaguely decent captain.  Brook is the next man in line but the less said about his cricketing brain the better.

    Stokes's batting is regressing and he's only very occasionally properly fit to bowl, with him moving to 7 there's even more of a conversation to be had about whether that's better filled by someone else.

    Is Sam Curran a better choice at 7?

    IsnRehan Ahmed at 7 and an extra seamer rather than Bashir a better option?

    McCullum and Key won't drop Stokes permanently though, and no decent change will happen with those two still there shrugging at any issues.
    Totally agree with all this we don't really have a ready made all rounder replacement or decent captain in the wings so will be forced to go with specialists or bits and pieces players ie can bowl well and bat a bit or vice versa.
  • PrincessFiona
    PrincessFiona Posts: 5,843
    North Lower Neil said:
    Steven81 said:
    I do rate stokes for all he's done over the years in the team with some amazing knocks and bowling efforts at times but honestly not that bothered if he gets dropped, actually been thinking he needed dropping anyway as apart from holding up an end and getting the odd wicket he's basically just becoming a captain and we've moved on since the brearley days.
    I'd agree with this if there was anyone else in the team who might be a vaguely decent captain.  Brook is the next man in line but the less said about his cricketing brain the better.

    Stokes's batting is regressing and he's only very occasionally properly fit to bowl, with him moving to 7 there's even more of a conversation to be had about whether that's better filled by someone else.

    Is Sam Curran a better choice at 7?

    IsnRehan Ahmed at 7 and an extra seamer rather than Bashir a better option?

    McCullum and Key won't drop Stokes permanently though, and no decent change will happen with those two still there shrugging at any issues.
    I agree about Brooks - so what are the alternatives?

    What a pair of idiots they have been
  • North Lower Neil
    North Lower Neil Posts: 23,779
    killerandflash said:


    This seems to be the rugby player involved, 21-year-old Samoan Totoa Auvaa. 

    6ft 5in, 125kg (19st 9lb)

    From The Times

    The incident took place in the Rex Rooms nightclub on the King’s Road in Chelsea, which was hosting a late-night party advertised as a “Polo in the Park after party” — after the equestrian event that took place over the weekend at the Hurlingham Club. Stokes and Atkinson were in the same VIP section of the nightclub — hours after completing victory in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s — alongside the Saracens players who were celebrating the end of their season, having failed to reach the Gallagher Prem play-offs.

    The Saracens players and a group of England cricketers had been together in the White Horse pub in Fulham and also went to at least two other pubs in the Fulham area before moving on to Chelsea. The Times understands that about six or seven England cricketers had been out in the evening but the majority had gone back to the team hotel in Kensington before the midnight curfew that has been imposed on England players since allegations of late-night drinking on their winter tours. Only Stokes, Atkinson and the ECB security guard were in the Rex Rooms after midnight.

    Both the ECB and Saracens are conducting their own investigations into the events but ECB sources are insistent that neither Stokes, 35, nor Atkinson, 28, were the aggressors in the incident. It is not clear if any further punches were thrown after the original one that hit the member of ECB security staff.
    Simple as that, go to a pub or two for a bit to celebrate the win with teammates, go back to the hotel on time.

    The two who didn't are idiots, frankly.
  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 72,092
    edited June 9
    North Lower Neil said:
    killerandflash said:


    This seems to be the rugby player involved, 21-year-old Samoan Totoa Auvaa. 

    6ft 5in, 125kg (19st 9lb)

    From The Times

    The incident took place in the Rex Rooms nightclub on the King’s Road in Chelsea, which was hosting a late-night party advertised as a “Polo in the Park after party” — after the equestrian event that took place over the weekend at the Hurlingham Club. Stokes and Atkinson were in the same VIP section of the nightclub — hours after completing victory in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s — alongside the Saracens players who were celebrating the end of their season, having failed to reach the Gallagher Prem play-offs.

    The Saracens players and a group of England cricketers had been together in the White Horse pub in Fulham and also went to at least two other pubs in the Fulham area before moving on to Chelsea. The Times understands that about six or seven England cricketers had been out in the evening but the majority had gone back to the team hotel in Kensington before the midnight curfew that has been imposed on England players since allegations of late-night drinking on their winter tours. Only Stokes, Atkinson and the ECB security guard were in the Rex Rooms after midnight.

    Both the ECB and Saracens are conducting their own investigations into the events but ECB sources are insistent that neither Stokes, 35, nor Atkinson, 28, were the aggressors in the incident. It is not clear if any further punches were thrown after the original one that hit the member of ECB security staff.
    Simple as that, go to a pub or two for a bit to celebrate the win with teammates, go back to the hotel on time.

    The two who didn't are idiots, frankly.
    Especially when you are the England Captain, who would have agreed the curfew rules.

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  • oohaahmortimer
    oohaahmortimer Posts: 34,833
    cantersaddick said:
    oohaahmortimer said:
    Stokes out of the next two tests 
    fellas a bell end 
    Where have you seen this?
    just what a mate has been told and he knows people in the game
  • Addick Addict
    Addick Addict Posts: 42,262
    Lord's pitch has been rated as "unsatisfactory" and it has been awarded one de-merit point. The ECB has 14 days to appeal, albeit that is highly unlikely, but the good news is that it has to receive six de-merit points before a suspension of 12 months is put in place.  
  • Chizz
    Chizz Posts: 28,653
    Addick Addict said:
    Lord's pitch has been rated as "unsatisfactory" and it has been awarded one de-merit point. The ECB has 14 days to appeal, albeit that is highly unlikely, but the good news is that it has to receive six de-merit points before a suspension of 12 months is put in place.  
    They'll wait until they're on 11 points and then schedule the following Lord's Test to be in May or June and then July or August of the following year.  
  • Karim_myBagheri
    Karim_myBagheri Posts: 14,125
    Not too bothered by his age but having 2 young kids at home, captain of the national side and with all the controversies surrounding this team and late night shenanigans he thinks it's a good idea to go out on the tiles early hours of a Monday morning. Bit of a pleb. 
  • Laddick01
    Laddick01 Posts: 7,932
    Out clubbing at 35 years old is genuine nonce behaviour. Once you’re past the age of about 26/27 I can’t understand why you’d even want to be in one. 

    Even if it makes us weaker, an example should be made of those that can’t meet the basic standards of a professional sportsman. 
  • fenaddick
    fenaddick Posts: 19,195

    Ben Stokes is understood to be considering his future as an England cricketer after breaking the team curfew. One possibility is a two-match ban, which would rule him out of Test cricket until August, with no guarantee on current form of a recallhttps://t.co/73Hg92lReB

    — Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) June 9, 2026
  • PrincessFiona
    PrincessFiona Posts: 5,843
    edited June 9
    Laddick01 said:
    Out clubbing at 35 years old is genuine nonce behaviour. Once you’re past the age of about 26/27 I can’t understand why you’d even want to be in one. 

    Even if it makes us weaker, an example should be made of those that can’t meet the basic standards of a professional sportsman. 
    I think that is a bit harsh about the age thing and even more so the associated comment. Its hardly clubbing like youngsters and how the rest of us know it and more where you go to carry on an evening after the pubs shut. Albeit when that should have been more than sufficient.

    But as the captain and after the curfew was agreed and set, notably after the behaviour in Australia, it was a very stupid and irresponsible thing to do
  • fenaddick
    fenaddick Posts: 19,195
    Talksport reckon he's standing down as captain

    https://talksport.com/sport/4316212/ben-stokes-england-cricket-steve-harmison-nightclub/#Echobox=1781009111
  • Addick Addict
    Addick Addict Posts: 42,262
    Apart from being belted and needing stitches, one has to feel sorry for the ECB security guard being put in that position by the somewhat selfish actions of Stokes and Atkinson. I can't believe that it was his job to ensure they met the curfew (if it was then he is in trouble too) but, equally, I very much doubt that he'd have been able to claim for overtime, had that incident not occurred, without one or two questions being asked!!!
  • Laddick01
    Laddick01 Posts: 7,932
    PrincessFiona said:
    Laddick01 said:
    Out clubbing at 35 years old is genuine nonce behaviour. Once you’re past the age of about 26/27 I can’t understand why you’d even want to be in one. 

    Even if it makes us weaker, an example should be made of those that can’t meet the basic standards of a professional sportsman. 
    I think that is a bit harsh about the age thing and even more so the associated comment. Its hardly clubbing like youngsters and how the rest of us know it and more where you go to carry on an evening after the pubs shut. Albeit when that should have been more than sufficient.

    But as the captain and after the curfew was agreed and set, notably after the behaviour in Australia, it was a very stupid and irresponsible thing to do
    Maybe harsh in my wording I’d agree. 

    However, I do find it ridiculous that guys who are being paid exorbitant amounts of money can’t act professionally. 

    The culture is just all wrong and if pros are doing these things they shouldn’t be near the squad. 

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  • Addick Addict
    Addick Addict Posts: 42,262
    fenaddick said:
    Talksport reckon he's standing down as captain

    https://talksport.com/sport/4316212/ben-stokes-england-cricket-steve-harmison-nightclub/#Echobox=1781009111
    That is what I've heard too. What a way to potentially end your career. 

    The sad thing is that this inclination to over indulge has been going on for a long time albeit, he seems to have managed things. He and Matt Coles were sent home in disgrace from the England Lions tour of Australia in February 2013 for repeated late-night drinking and ignoring team management's instructions regarding match preparation and recovery. Coles never did, by all accounts, succeed in curbing his tendencies and will go down as one who sold himself short.  
  • Karim_myBagheri
    Karim_myBagheri Posts: 14,125
    Drink takes a drink type problem with some of these players I wonder? Don't know when to stop?
    Maybe I'm looking into it a bit much. 
  • JohnnyH2
    JohnnyH2 Posts: 5,515
    cantersaddick said:
    Leuth said:
    cantersaddick said:
    Addick Addict said:
    fenaddick said:
    So the Saracens player tried to punch Atkinson and hit an ECB minder. I’m sure more will come out but that sounds like their main error was breaking the curfew. Stokes might manage to get away with that 
    That's what Nick Hoult, the Telegraph cricket correspondent has put out on X:

    Full story on Stokes-Saracens incident * Rugby player understood to have thrown a punch at Gus Atkinson but connected with ECB security guard supervising the players (who needed stitches)* ECB sources are adamant the cricketers were “not the aggressors” at Chelsea nightclub.

    That begs the question - if there is a curfew, then what is an ECB security guard doing condoning that by allowing them to be there at that time?

    The other part of the rumour I heard was that Stokes "stepped in" after the Saracens rugby player threw that punch. Whatever "stepped in" means I don't know but, of course, Stokes didn't hold back in the Bristol incident, when defending others, for which he was cleared of any wrongdoing. If he did then he will have no choice other than to resign. 

    Even if Stokes didn't throw a punch, he still might not be in the clear given what McCullum said just last week:

    “The first thing I said to these boys is ‘don’t do anything that lands you on the front page of a newspaper’ and ‘nothing good happens after midnight,’ I’m not against making sure these boys have a good time in a controlled manner but it’s about looking after them to ensure they don’t make mistakes.”


    Trying to land one on Gus Atkinson is the only bit of the story that makes sense tbh.
    Ooh, spill more.... 
    I mean nothing more than him coming across as a bit of a dick, even by Surrey standards....
    Considering what he had been through in his personal life in the last few years being 'a bit of a dick' should be taken into consideration 
  • PrincessFiona
    PrincessFiona Posts: 5,843
    Laddick01 said:
    PrincessFiona said:
    Laddick01 said:
    Out clubbing at 35 years old is genuine nonce behaviour. Once you’re past the age of about 26/27 I can’t understand why you’d even want to be in one. 

    Even if it makes us weaker, an example should be made of those that can’t meet the basic standards of a professional sportsman. 
    I think that is a bit harsh about the age thing and even more so the associated comment. Its hardly clubbing like youngsters and how the rest of us know it and more where you go to carry on an evening after the pubs shut. Albeit when that should have been more than sufficient.

    But as the captain and after the curfew was agreed and set, notably after the behaviour in Australia, it was a very stupid and irresponsible thing to do
    Maybe harsh in my wording I’d agree. 

    However, I do find it ridiculous that guys who are being paid exorbitant amounts of money can’t act professionally. 

    The culture is just all wrong and if pros are doing these things they shouldn’t be near the squad. 
    Yes, just the age and nonce comments I feel are harsh
  • Addick Addict
    Addick Addict Posts: 42,262
    Karim_myBagheri said:
    Drink takes a drink type problem with some of these players I wonder? Don't know when to stop?
    Maybe I'm looking into it a bit much. 
    Stokes did give up alcohol at the beginning of 2025 to aid his recovery from his hamstring injury. He's not an alcoholic but, as you say, it probably is that thing of not having an "off switch" once he's started. 
  • PrincessFiona
    PrincessFiona Posts: 5,843
    Addick Addict said:
    Apart from being belted and needing stitches, one has to feel sorry for the ECB security guard being put in that position by the somewhat selfish actions of Stokes and Atkinson. I can't believe that it was his job to ensure they met the curfew (if it was then he is in trouble too) but, equally, I very much doubt that he'd have been able to claim for overtime, had that incident not occurred, without one or two questions being asked!!!
    Agreed. I wonder why he stayed out with them? Maybe hoped he could keep an eye on him and mitigate any damage, and ironically getting lamped himself
  • golfaddick
    golfaddick Posts: 35,915
    North Lower Neil said:
    killerandflash said:


    This seems to be the rugby player involved, 21-year-old Samoan Totoa Auvaa. 

    6ft 5in, 125kg (19st 9lb)

    From The Times

    The incident took place in the Rex Rooms nightclub on the King’s Road in Chelsea, which was hosting a late-night party advertised as a “Polo in the Park after party” — after the equestrian event that took place over the weekend at the Hurlingham Club. Stokes and Atkinson were in the same VIP section of the nightclub — hours after completing victory in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s — alongside the Saracens players who were celebrating the end of their season, having failed to reach the Gallagher Prem play-offs.

    The Saracens players and a group of England cricketers had been together in the White Horse pub in Fulham and also went to at least two other pubs in the Fulham area before moving on to Chelsea. The Times understands that about six or seven England cricketers had been out in the evening but the majority had gone back to the team hotel in Kensington before the midnight curfew that has been imposed on England players since allegations of late-night drinking on their winter tours. Only Stokes, Atkinson and the ECB security guard were in the Rex Rooms after midnight.

    Both the ECB and Saracens are conducting their own investigations into the events but ECB sources are insistent that neither Stokes, 35, nor Atkinson, 28, were the aggressors in the incident. It is not clear if any further punches were thrown after the original one that hit the member of ECB security staff.
    Simple as that, go to a pub or two for a bit to celebrate the win with teammates, go back to the hotel on time.

    The two who didn't are idiots, frankly.
    Can't see why the players couldn't stay in the hotel bar. No need to go out on the lash on a Sunday night. It was the 1st Test of 3......not the last of 5 !
  • Karim_myBagheri
    Karim_myBagheri Posts: 14,125
    Whatever happens I really hope we get to know what the actual issue was that led a young rugby player try and land a punch on Atkinson's quite large head, miss and ending up planting one on a ECB minder.
  • MrOneLung
    MrOneLung Posts: 27,736
    Karim_myBagheri said:
    Whatever happens I really hope we get to know what the actual issue was that led a young rugby player try and land a punch on Atkinson's quite large head, miss and ending up planting one on a ECB minder.
    Lucky it wasn't a bouncer
  • fenaddick
    fenaddick Posts: 19,195
    ECB seem determined to make this messy

    https://inews.co.uk/sport/cricket/ben-stokes-england-retirement-nightclub-incident-4467028

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