Ben Stokes hits 95 for Durham as England wobble against New Zealand

Ben Stokes answered his England omission with 95 for Durham against Northamptonshire, and the contrast with the national side could hardly have been sharper. While Stokes was back in competitive action at Chester-le-Street, England were sliding toward defeat against New Zealand in the second Test at The Oval, with Joe Root leading the side on a match-by-match basis.

The innings carried extra weight because Stokes had been dropped from England’s second Test squad after the England and Wales Cricket Board opened an investigation into a breach of team protocols involving Stokes and Gus Atkinson. The ECB said on June 8, 2026 that it was investigating the pair after a midnight curfew incident following the first Test against New Zealand, leaving England without their captain at the same moment his county had named him in a 15-player squad for the Northamptonshire match.

Durham had made clear what Stokes’s return meant to them. The club said the fixture could be his first appearance at Banks Homes Riverside since 2024, and his third appearance of Durham’s 2026 season. It also pointed to his previous home outing in Chester-le-Street against Worcestershire in June 2024, when he scored a half-century and took three wickets in the first innings. That is the standard Stokes keeps setting: decisive with bat and ball, and still capable of changing the shape of a match.

England, by contrast, looked increasingly stretched without him. The second Test against New Zealand ran from June 17 to 21, 2026, and by day four England were chasing 463 and sitting on 119 for 3, still needing 344 runs, according to ESPNcricinfo’s live coverage. The scoreline only deepened the debate over whether England’s current setup has the depth to absorb the loss of its captain, or whether the side remains too dependent on Stokes’s all-round presence and on the authority he brings.

The possibility of a quick return remains in the background if the ECB investigation concludes in time for the third Test. For now, though, Stokes’s 95 for Durham has done more than lift a county innings. It has turned England’s immediate future into a pressure test of balance, succession and leadership, with Root’s temporary stint and New Zealand’s command at The Oval exposing how much hangs on one player’s availability.