Michael Vaughan backs Ben Stokes to retain England Test captaincy

Michael Vaughan has backed Ben Stokes to keep the England captaincy but has revealed concerns about the all-rounder’s recent behaviour.

With question marks lingering over the 35-year-old’s future, Stokes appears to be involved in a stand-off with the England and Wales Cricket Board following his involvement in a nightclub incident which also involved team-mate Gus Atkinson and Saracens rugby union player Totoa Auvaa.

Suggestions that Stokes was ready to break his silence on social media on Tuesday – possibly relinquishing his leadership role, or even stepping away from England duty more permanently – came to nothing. The ECB will need to name a squad for the second Test soon, with training due to begin at the Kia Oval on Sunday, meaning a decision to stand the pair down for that game may come before anything more permanent.

The Women’s T20 World Cup begins at Edgbaston on Friday, with England hosting Sri Lanka, and there is an eagerness at Lord’s to have some clarity before Nat Sciver-Brunt’s team take centre stage.

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Vaughan, the Ashes-winning skipper who led his country 51 times from 2003 to 2008, has stepped into the debate to suggest the end of Stokes’ tenure is not inevitable.

“Yes, Ben Stokes broke a curfew. Yes, he made a mistake. But is that a sacking offence as England’s Test captain? I do not think so,” he wrote in The Telegraph.

“Stokes has a lot of credit in the bank for all he has done for England as captain and all-rounder. There is no way that those making the big decisions at the England and Wales Cricket Board have the same credit in the bank.

“I do not see how you can tell Stokes he is not captain anymore just for going over the curfew by a couple of hours after a win. The ECB is hoping Stokes makes a decision on its behalf. But it has to be brave enough and strong enough to do what it thinks is right. If that is to sack him then fine, but I do not agree with that decision on this issue.

“A short suspension would be fine, but this is not a big enough incident over which to lose the captaincy.”

While Vaughan believes there is a way back, he also shared worries over how Stokes has handled himself in recent times, dating back to the winter’s ill-fated Ashes tour.

“He has not seemed right for a while. Over the past week, before this incident blew up, I sent a few messages to people around the England camp that I had concerns about Stokes,” Vaughan wrote.

Confrontation

“In Australia, he was aggressive with people a couple of times after interviews. I have heard that he has not been shaking the hands of well-respected people in the game. It was odd at Lord’s that he did not come down to have his photograph taken with all the other England ex-captains as part of the 150th Lord’s Test celebrations. He does not seem to respect the past or other people doing their jobs.”

Stokes and Atkinson remain under investigation for a “breach of team protocols” after breaking a midnight curfew while celebrating their Test victory over New Zealand at Lord’s last Sunday. The episode has also been referred to the independent Cricket Regulator.

A confrontation involving Auvaa, one of several Saracens players seen drinking with members of the England team earlier in the evening, is understood to have resulted in a physical confrontation that led to a member of ECB security staff being struck. Saracens are also conducting a probe to establish the full facts of the incident.

READ MORE: Ben Stokes’ England captaincy under scrutiny after nightclub ‘incident’ triggers investigation