By Admin 
Ben Stokes is not a part of England in the second Test being played against New Zealand these days. Stokes was seen playing as captain for the English team in the first Test played at Lord’s in London. After the match, Stokes had an altercation in a nightclub, due to which the England Cricket Board announced that Stokes would not be a part of England in the second Test due to the investigation into the matter. Now a big update has come regarding the return of Stokes.
Stokes has been made part of Durham’s squad for the County Championship match against Northamptonshire. The match between Durham and Northamptonshire will be played on 19 June (Friday) at Chester-le-Street.
This will be the third time in the season that Stokes will be seen playing for Durham. This match will run simultaneously with the ongoing Oval Test against New Zealand.
back in @CountyChamp action in CLS. 🔴🏡
Ryan Campbell has named a squad of 15 to take on Northamptonshire in Chester-le-Street.
👉 https://t.co/4ro8vz1IaB#ForTheNorth pic.twitter.com/OPkkmTfRGJ
— Durham Cricket (@DurhamCricket) June 18, 2026
Joe Root becomes captain in place of Stokes
Joe Root is taking command of England in place of Stokes in the second test against New Zealand. Before Stokes, Root was the regular captain of the England Test team.
International career of Ben Stokes
Stokes has played 121 Tests, 114 ODIs and 43 T20 Internationals in his international career so far. Stokes has scored 7228 runs in Tests, which includes 14 centuries and 37 half-centuries. While bowling, the English player has taken 246 wickets in his name.
In ODIs, Stokes has scored 3463 runs scoring 5 centuries and 24 centuries. Took 74 wickets in bowling. Apart from this, 585 runs were scored from Stokes’ bat in T20 International, which included 1 fifty. While bowling, he took 26 wickets in his name. Now it will be interesting to see when Stokes returns to the English Test.
Also read: Argument between Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan after the win against AFG, video surfaced