London (AFP) - Ben Stokes will return as England captain for next week’s third and deciding Test against New Zealand in Nottingham, head coach Brendon McCullum announced on Sunday.

Stokes was stood down from England’s emphatic 253-run defeat by New Zealand in the second Test at the Oval this week for breaching a team curfew following his side’s win in the series opener at Lord’s earlier this month.

Although absent from the second Test, all-rounder Stokes, 35, was permitted to play for Durham and he made 95 against Northamptonshire in the County Championship on Saturday.

But on Sunday, before play started, both Stokes and Surrey paceman Gus Atkinson, who was also dropped by England for his part in the curfew breach, were both removed from their respective domestic matches in the clearest sign yet that they were being primed for a Test recall.

“Ben will be back. He’ll be back and he’ll be captain,” McCullum, a former New Zealand captain, told reporters at the Oval on Sunday.

“I think everyone is excited about that, especially after seeing him hit some form for Durham.

“I’ve been speaking to Ben every single day since we had the incident and my assessment was that I was worried about him. To see him go out there and play some cricket and look like he was enjoying himself is really positive.”

Several hours after McCullum spoke to reporters, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed Stokes and Atkinson’s places in a 15-man squad for the third Test.

But the ECB added that they had “breached specific contractual obligations that require England players to at all times maintain the highest standards of conduct and act in the best interests of England cricket”, with both Stokes and Atkinson given a written warning as to their conduct.

- ‘Unprovoked attacks’ -

The ECB also confirmed the conclusion of their disciplinary hearing into a curfew breach that culminated in a violent altercation in a London nightclub with Saracens rugby player Totoa Auvaa.

Sunday’s statement from the ECB indicated that Auvaa had attack Atkinson, with an England team security guard injured in the fracas.

Stokes and Atkinson were also absolved of any responsibility for the confrontation, with the ECB statement adding: “It was also concluded that no blame should be attached to the players for violent conduct at the nightclub.

“Stokes was not involved in the altercation and did not witness either incident. The evidence the ECB has seen demonstrates that Atkinson was the victim of unprovoked attacks and did not retaliate on either occasion.”

A statement issued on behalf of England’s independent Cricket Regulator, also looking into the pair’s conduct, said that they did nothing to provoke the nightclub incidents.

Both McCullum and Stokes denied suggestions of an increasingly strained relationship during England’s woeful tour of Australia, which culminated in a 4-1 Ashes series loss in January.

McCullum and Stokes joined forces as coach and captain in 2022.

Asked if they could still operate as a duo in those roles, McCullum replied: “We’ve worked together intimately for four years, we’ve achieved some cool things and we’ve let ourselves down in other things.

“We have robust conversations all the way through and that’s to be expected when you’re in positions of leadership. There’s mutual respect there.

“I’ve been very clear and very supportive of Ben throughout and particularly this week as well. I anticipate we’ll be able to work together really well with the week coming and I’m sure both of us still have that same vision for this cricket team.”