England captain Ben Stokes has said that he apologised to his teammates after being unavailable for the second Test against New Zealand. The second Test ended in a heavy defeat for England, paving the way for New Zealand to level the series. As England prepare for the crucial third Test starting on Thursday, Stokes is determined to make amends by leading from the front.

Stokes returns to the squad alongside fast bowler Gus Atkinson after both players were left out of the second Test at the Kia Oval. Both players had breached the team's curfew and were involved in an incident at a nightclub in Chelsea after the opening Test of the series, which England won comfortably.

"That was one of the first things I had to do as a captain. You look at a situation and it affects more than just myself. It affected Joe, it affected the squad, it affects the people outside the playing environment. It no doubt had an effect on the lads who were making their debut. That should have been all about them but unfortunately a situation out of their control took precedence over their big day of making their debut for England in Test cricket," Ben Stokes said at the pre-match press conference.

Stokes expressed disappointment over the things that transpired over the past few days and stressed the importance of taking responsibility as captain. Notably, there was no major disciplinary action, but both players received formal written warnings from the ECB regarding the matter.

"It would be stupid and naive of me not to acknowledge and address that. It’s something you do have to do, as someone who has responsibility of being a leader in a group."

"It’s all fine and well everything being fine and dandy when it’s all going well, but you need to take responsibility for things as well. You need to be big enough and man enough to take that upon your shoulders, and look everyone who it has affected in the eye and apologise the way you need to apologise," he said.