Brendon McCullum: I am worried about Ben Stokes

Brendon McCullum has revealed his deep concern for Ben Stokes’s wellbeing after the England captain was dropped for breaking a curfew, repeatedly saying: “I’m worried about Ben.”

England will be without Stokes and Gus Atkinson for the second Test against New Zealand on Wednesday after they were disciplined for being out beyond midnight after their victory in the first Test.

McCullum, the England head coach, said he has experienced a range of emotions after learning of the events of last Monday morning, including feeling “bewildered, angry, then kind of gutted”. Soon, though, his concern turned to the wellbeing of Stokes, who at times last week was considering retiring from the game. The coach has spoken to Stokes every day since the incident, and says those conversations have left him concerned about Stokes’s mental state.

“When you’re in roles like this you have to start trying to separate the action from the man,” McCullum said. “Very quickly, through talking to Ben in particular, and also Gus, my overall emotion turned to worry and concern for Ben in particular. Since then it has been about how we support these guys, whilst not overlooking the fact they have not lived up to the standards we have set for ourselves. You can’t walk past that, and we’ll deal with that in time and through a process. For me it’s very much about how we support these guys through the next stage, in particular Ben. That is very much where my mind is at, my worry for him.

“There’s been a range of emotions Ben has gone through. I am not going to share those with you. That’s out of respect for our [mine and Ben’s] relationship, and the confidentiality of it as well. I care about Ben and want to make sure we are doing the right thing by him. Ultimately doing the right thing by the team also.”

Stokes took a mental health break in 2021, and said of last winter’s Ashes: “I thought I had sort of gone into those places before, but after Australia, my gosh. It was pretty extreme.”

McCullum said he was checking in with Stokes “daily” and that their relationship was “not strained at all” with “very open lines of communication”. But like Rob Key, the director of cricket, last week, he did not provide Stokes any backing to return to the captaincy after the incident. After England’s booze-fuelled winter, Stokes pushed for the introduction of a curfew, only to break it after the first Test back. McCullum said England were taking things “day-by-day”.

“Our concern is with Ben, our concern is handling that situation, making sure we look after him, that he feels supported by us and in communication with us,” he said. “Those other things [his future a captain] will work out down the line.”

Asked if this would be a sad end to the captaincy, McCullum said: “Again, my concern is for Ben. He has been an outstanding leader for four years. He’s put his heart and soul and all his energy the captaincy has thrown at him, particularly in this country, the scrutiny that comes with it has its perks but also its challenges. He’s done a wonderful job of that, and for now, inside of our group just want to focus on Ben.”

‘Playing for Durham gives him joy and satisfaction’

Ryan Campbell, the Durham coach, confirmed on Sunday that Stokes is expected to play in the County Championship on Friday. McCullum was asked if this was a good thing, and refused to be drawn.

“I’m worried about Ben,” he said. “I’ll leave it at that. I’m in constant communication with him, which is great. I care for him immensely. Whatever he is working through at the moment, it will be because Ben thinks that’s right for dealing with what he’s feeling at the moment. So, my concern is Ben. He’s very entitled to make his own decisions about that stuff, and I encourage him to keep doing stuff like that, because it gives him some joy and some satisfaction, and that’s good.”

McCullum said he had no plans to row back on the introduction of a curfew, but added he did not want to “kill the joy” of the environment.

“It is vitally important that you celebrate your successes,” he said. “I’ve been involved in this sport and been living this life for 20 years and some of my most enjoyable moments have been sitting around after going to war with your team-mates and looking them in the eye and realising that you have left it all out there. I don’t believe in excess, I think excess is a dangerous situation and you need always to uphold the standards and make sure you try to live by those.”

In the absence of Stokes and Atkinson, England have been forced into four changes and a rebalanced side. McCullum admitted that the selection conversation had taken place against the backdrop of “a bit of chaos”.

They will hand debuts to Jordan Cox, batting No 7, and Sonny Baker, the Hampshire quick. Joe Root will captain the team, while there are returns for Jofra Archer and Matthew Fisher. There is also doubt about Jamie Smith’s involvement, given his wife is imminently expecting their second child.

Fisher for Robinson

Ollie Robinson was the curveball absentee. He has a long history of injury and pulled up in training on Friday with a sore knee, which is expected to only rule him out of one Test. In comes Matthew Fisher, a steady seamer for Surrey who was capped in Joe Root’s final series as captain, but has not been seen since.

Baker for Bashir

Poor Shoaib Bashir did not bowl a ball at Lord’s, and has become the victim of a rebalanced side. In comes Sonny Baker, who McCullum described as a cricketer “the country is going to get behind”. He struggled on his white-ball debut last year, but is an infectious character who bowls at good pace.

And the possible fifth…

Rew for Smith

Jamie Smith was not at England training on Monday as he and his partner awaited the birth of their second child. Rew will come in and keep wicket if he is unavailable, and worked with coach Sarah Taylor in training. Fortunately Smith lives locally, raising the prospect that he plays.

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