Stokes saga humiliates McCullum and exposes England’s captaincy succession crisis | Mark Ramprakash

England cricket captain Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were exonerated by the ECB following an investigation into their post-match celebrations after winning the first Test against New Zealand. However, England lost the second Test heavily at The Oval, highlighting the team's dependence on Stokes, who is now 35 and had reportedly considered retirement during the investigation. The article argues the ECB's handling of the incident was clumsy and reflects a broader pattern of mismanagement, coming after previous controversies involving the Ashes trip to Noosa and Harry Brook's undisclosed altercation with a nightclub bouncer in Wellington.