{"id":364586,"date":"2026-07-11T11:36:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T06:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=364586"},"modified":"2026-07-11T11:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T06:06:07","slug":"england-chief-brendon-mccullum-denies-talk-of-a-wedge-between-himself-and-captain-ben-stokes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/england-chief-brendon-mccullum-denies-talk-of-a-wedge-between-himself-and-captain-ben-stokes\/","title":{"rendered":"England chief Brendon McCullum denies talk of a wedge between himself and captain Ben Stokes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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England head coach Brendon McCullum insists there was no breakdown in his relationship with returning captain Ben Stokes, declaring \u201cit\u2019s nice to have the band back together\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson resumed training with their team-mates at Trent Bridge on Tuesday afternoon, ending a two-week exile that saw them miss the series-levelling defeat on the Kia Oval.<\/p>\n

The pair were stood down following an incident at a London nightclub within the early hours of June 8, though they were largely cleared in two subsequent investigations.<\/p>\n

They received a written warning from the England and Wales Cricket Board for breaking \u201cspecific contractual obligations\u201d but had no case to reply when it got here to 2 unprovoked attacks on Atkinson.<\/p>\n

For exclusive stories and all of the detailed\u00a0cricket\u00a0news\u00a0you would like,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>subscribe to The Cricket Paper<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0website,<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0digital edition, or\u00a0newspaper<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0from as little as 14p a day<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

FOLLOW OUR LIVE SCORES CENTRE<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"Ben\"Ben
MISSING: Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were not noted of the second Test
PICTURE: Robbie Stephenson\/PA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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Meanwhile, the Cricket Regulator ruled there was insufficient evidence against them.<\/p>\n

McCullum declined the chance to publicly back his skipper while the probe took place and later raised questions over his frame of mind, resulting in renewed speculation over the pair\u2019s bond after a difficult Ashes winter.<\/p>\n

But McCullum claimed they were on the identical page after a lengthy chat prior to England\u2019s net session.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a very good catch-up with him this morning, an hour and a bit talking, and he was outstanding,\u201d said McCullum.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looks able to go, he\u2019s passionate about the week and, obviously from our perspective, it\u2019s nice to have the band back together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Brendon\"Brendon
SEEING EYE TO EYE: Brendon McCullum is confident he and Ben Stokes remain on the identical page
\nPICTURE: Mike Egerton\/PA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Good friend<\/h2>\n

Asked if recent events had put a wedge between them, he added: \u201cUnder no circumstances. We talked about that this morning. <\/p>\n

\u201cI said \u2018do you understand where this has come from, the conversations around our relationship during the last six months?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said \u2018no, I do not know\u2019. I said to him \u2018as far I\u2019m concerned, I consider you a very good friend\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously we\u2019ve been through rather a lot together as a working pair in leadership positions here in English cricket. <\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, we each want what\u2019s right and what’s the very best for English cricket and we\u2019re crystal clear on the direction we would like this team to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/em><\/strong> James Coles handed England call-up for T20 series against India<\/p>\n

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England head coach Brendon McCullum insists there was no breakdown in his relationship with returning captain Ben Stokes, declaring \u201cit\u2019s nice to have the band back together\u201d. Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson resumed training with their team-mates at Trent Bridge on Tuesday afternoon, ending a two-week exile that saw them miss the series-levelling defeat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":364587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[5911,16684,5370,2655,1131,5386,16685,5385,4285,12248],"class_list":["post-364586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-ben","tag-brendon","tag-captain","tag-chief","tag-denies","tag-england","tag-mccullum","tag-stokes","tag-talk","tag-wedge"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t