Ben Stokes set to be dropped by England after nightclub incident

The future of Ben Stokes is still up in the air, with the Test captain considering his England future following the London nightclub controversy in the early hours of Monday morning, when he and Gus Atkinson broke the team’s midnight curfew.

Both players have been left out of the squad for next week’s second Test against New Zealand at The Oval while the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) continue their investigation into his and Atkinson’s behaviour, with Joe Root making a shock return as interim captain four years after quitting the job.

While we don’t know the length of Stokes’ absence – or even if he will return at all – England at least have a job to replace him right now.

So, how do they do it?

Who’s the all-rounder?

First things first, Stokes is practically irreplaceable as an all-rounder. But there is one viable option right now: Rehan Ahmed.

The 21-year-old is raw, but his batting has come on leaps and bounds over the past year. He averaged 50 in last year’s County Championship , scoring five hundreds in the process as his move up to opener helped  Leicestershire  gain promotion.

Overall, his first-class batting average of 32.69 is higher than Zak Crawley ’s (31.49), albeit from a smaller sample size. And Ahmed would be batting at No 7, not as an opener .

England don’t quite trust Ahmed’s leg-spin yet, but they may be forced to take a leap of faith given how badly Stokes’ absence affects the balance of the team.

Rehan Ahmed appears the best option to step in against New Zealand at The Oval (Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

In terms of other available spinners, Ahmed is competing with Shoaib Bashir . Given both are inexperienced, would there be that much of a drop-off if Ahmed was named in the XI ahead of him?

Covering your spin option at No 7 also allows England to replace Stokes’ bowling with another seamer, meaning the team would still have four seam options and needn’t weaken the focus of the attack too much. It’s not a perfect answer but it is a solid option.

Invest in Ahmed and it might pay dividends. Right now, there aren’t too many other options aside from replacing Stokes with a batter such as Jordan Cox, who has been named in the squad for The Oval , being forced to leave out Bashir anyway and relying on Joe Root and Jacob Bethell for your spin. This is not ideal.

Another alternative would be Will Jacks , yet he would surely only be a stop-gap option. Why bother when you have someone with such a high ceiling as Ahmed?

Who’s the captain?

England have confirmed Root, who stood down as captain in 2022, will lead the team at The Oval on an interim basis ahead of Harry Brook, Stokes’ current deputy and the man who leads the white-ball teams.

Joe Root will captain England again in Stokes’ absence (Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Root’s return comes after an SOS from the ECB. It’s a complete mess, not helped by the confusion over who will captain the team in the long-term.

Stokes could decide to carry on and see the job taken off him by the ECB. He could resign. No decision has been made yet. Given his own off-field troubles last winter, when he was punched by a Wellington bouncer, Brook’s suitability for the Test captaincy on a long-term basis right now is questionable.

There are few other viable options to replace Stokes as England’s skipper, with only a punt on someone like 22-year-old Bethell being exactly that – a huge risk. Root surely has little interest in retaking the captaincy on a permanent basis and it would be unfair to ask him. Brook, then, is the standout pick.

Yet if that was to come to pass, England might have to ease his workload by offloading the T20 captaincy on Bethell, who did the job when Brook was rested for last year’s series in Ireland.

No England captain has led the team across all three formats since Sir Alastair Cook in 2012, and there’s good reason for it – the demands are far too great. Brook could feasibly lead the Test and ODI teams ahead of next year’s Ashes and 50-over World Cup in southern Africa. But after that, if someone like Bethell was blooded in the T20 role now, they could take over the entire white-ball job at the end of next year to allow Brook to concentrate on Test cricket.

What will England’s bowling attack be for The Oval?

Another headache is what England’s bowling attack will be at The Oval, with opening bowler Atkinson – who was present with Stokes when a player from the  Saracens rugby union team  allegedly punched an England security guard at the Rex Rooms in Chelsea – also excluded for this second Test.

After their respective performances at Lord’s , both Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue are locks next week against New Zealand.

Stokes missing out leaves England with two seamer slots to fill, and they look likely to be taken by Jofra Archer, who is back in the squad for The Oval, and young fast bowler Sonny Baker , who would be making his Test debut. Archer missed the first Test at Lord’s after he was given time off t…