What details have been corroborated, with the help of a report from Shaw, suggest Stokes and Atkinson were not the aggressors in the situation. They had joined the Saracens team who had embarked on an all-day drinking session to mark the end of their season, and went on to The Rex Rooms on Kings Road, where the incident took place. Stokes and Atkinson are under scrutiny for breaking the ECB’s midnight curfew, which has been in place from the start of the year and applies throughout the series, including the current 10-day gap between the first and second Test.
Speaking to the media on Thursday at The Kia Oval, the venue for the second Test, Key cut a forlorn figure, acknowledging that the incident has undone months of work to instill greater professionalism within the group. However, he took umbrage with the suggestion the Test side has reached new levels of shame.
“No, I don’t think they’ve become a national embarrassment,” he said. “I think that Stokes and McCullum are two of the most successful coach and captain partnerships we’ve had.
“I feel disappointed that I’m here talking about this, because there’s so much we’ve tried to learn from. And I believe that, as a team, the way that they’ve carried themselves in the lead-up to this game, the way they’ve played that Test match, everything that we spent so long working on… the breathing space you felt, and the relief when we won that Test match, that was so important too because the noise would have got incredibly loud had we not won that Test match. To then be now talking about this, not even a day later, is just incredibly frustrating.
Key’s anger is shared by McCullum, who informed Key of the incident on Monday morning. They, along with Stokes, were instrumental in the curfew coming into being, and they chose to apply it prior to the Ashes review. The silver lining, from Key’s perspective, is that – while Atkinson claimed to not know about the curfew – other players who were out after the Test win decided to head back to the hotel before midnight.
“The protocols were brought in in January, they were also sent to their representatives at TEPP (Team England Player Partnership, the body that represents England’s men). A number of players went out that night and all but two of them came back in time for the curfew.
“Gus Atkinson says he didn’t know. Ben Stokes and I have spent probably three months working through a lot of things on how we improve the culture, the performance, everything with this team. He’s been an integral part of that. As far as I’m concerned, as much as I’m angry and frustrated at sitting here having to talk through this. If those protocols weren’t in place it could have been a lot worse.
“A lot of people have had phone calls that you’re just in disbelief with. Then you get angry. There’s a load of things and I’m still not sure I’m over those at the moment. Ben, we are speaking to all the time. Part of it for me is just making sure he’s alright because in my dealings with Ben in this job he has been outstanding.
“Over the last few months we have spent so much time together talking and working out the way forward,and I thought some of those things were starting to come to fruition on the pitch. To then very quickly be talking about this is not where I want to be.”
Key’s frustration is such that he is even considering a complete ban on alcohol. After McCullum spoke about getting a tighter grip on the dressing room, Key wonders if it could be tighter still.
“I’m trying to give myself a bit of time,” he said. “Do we need to look at, actually, have [the measures] been strict enough? Even when they win a game of cricket, is it now a time when there’s just no alcohol at any time and at any stage? I need to think through these things, because I don’t want to make a rash decision that actually hinders the team and creates a situation where they don’t feel they can do anything. But the players now have to show the public that they can be trusted. At this point it’s hard to say they can.”
Key would not be drawn on the prospect of the Stokes stepping away from the game, revealing the 35-year old had gone through “a range of emotions” because of the incident, particularly after a tough six months following the Ashes, which included a gruesome facial injury after an accident in the nets. Key has not asked Stokes to step down, but he did not rule out the prospect of removing Stokes as captain following the conclusion of the ECB’s investigation.
“I’m not saying that,” Key said, when asked specifically if he would not sack Stokes. “At this point in time, it has not crossed my mind to get that far ahead. It’s just about finding out all the information, finding out how he is, putting all that information together and working out what the best thing to do is. As far as sacking, or any of that stuff, no we haven’t got anywhere close to being that far in the process.
“We have to let that process play out, because I want to work out what the best thing to do for this team is, and the best thing to do for Ben Stokes. I haven’t got an answer at the moment.
“It’s still very raw all of this – certainly for Ben, Brendon, myself and the ECB. I don’t want to speculate on any of that until I, and we, have had a proper think, and we see what happens in the next week or so.”
Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
