The skipper and paceman Gus Atkinson have been left out of the squad for the second Test against New Zealand after breaking a midnight curfew when out celebrating the win at Lord's21:23, 10 Jun 2026By dropping him from the second Test, the England and Wales Cricket Board has, more than likely, brought an unfortunate end to Ben Stokes’ time as England captain.‌You have to suspect there is no way back to the captaincy now that Joe Root will lead the team against New Zealand at the Oval next week.‌But his great friend Root has shown why this should not be the end of Stokes’ magnificent England career. Taken in isolation, being out after midnight ten days before the next game and in the wake of a fine and much-needed victory at Lord’s hardly seems to warrant a suspension, even if there was a bit of an incident in the nightclub.‌For Stokes and Atkinson to be dropped for the second Test appears quite a draconian punishment. But Stokes, as skipper, was party to setting a midnight curfew after reports that the drinking culture in the England set-up had gotten out of hand during the ill-fated Ashes series last winter.By breaking the curfew, his position as team leader was compromised. The investigation into events in the early hours of Sunday morning is apparently still ongoing, and presumably, there is a threat of further sanctions.On top of that, Stokes is clearly an uncompromisingly proud character. If he feels this is an unjust course of events, he could well resign the captaincy.‌And he could walk away from international cricket. He could go and earn fortunes in franchise cricket.Being disciplined like this will be a tough one for him to take, having put himself through so much - in a physical and mental sense - for England’s cause. He has been a warrior for that cause.‌If he feels he has been badly treated, if he feels in any way belittled, he might well decide that he has had enough. But, hopefully, this is not a saga that will prompt Stokes’ international retirement.His contributions with the bat have been fairly dismal over the past year and a half. Maybe the burden of captaincy - which, in cricket, is a particularly onerous one - has been affecting his form, although he has been very good with the ball.After Root stood down as captain following the Ashes defeat of 2021-22, his form as a player became even better. The same could well happen to Stokes if he chooses to give up the captaincy or has it taken away from him.‌Don’t forget, it sometimes looked as though his captaincy had reached an end-game during the disastrous Ashes tour. There are no obvious candidates to succeed Stokes as skipper but perhaps Root will be asked to do the job for this summer.Or perhaps Stokes will return as captain for the third Test and forget about this unfortunate episode. But that last option seems the least likely right now.Article continues belowStokes will be annoyed by this, that is for sure. But when the dust settles, let’s hope we have not seen the last of Stokes as an England cricketer.