Ben Stokes: Brendon McCullum is ready to work as England’s Test captain

England head coach Brendon McCullum says he will be able to work with Ben Stokes when the captain returns for the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.

Stokes and pacer Gus Atkinson were made unavailable for the massive second Test defeat pending an investigation into an incident at a London nightclub.

After the 4-1 Ashes series defeat that led to problems off the field, both Stokes and McCullum denied that their relationship had deteriorated in Australia.

Then, after England won the first Test since the Ashes – against New Zealand at Lord’s – Stokes broke the team’s midnight curfew to celebrate the win.

The outcome of the investigation is yet to be confirmed, but McCullum told BBC Test Match Special that he hopes to have Stokes and Atkinson available in Nottingham, with Stokes resuming the captaincy.

On his relationship with the captain, McCullum said: “You’re just trying to make sure you communicate properly.

“We’ve all got the same ambition, which is to make English cricket a very good team and try to get results on the field, and that hasn’t changed.”

McCallum said he has spoken to Stokes “every day” since the nightclub incident, which happened in the early hours of Monday, June 8.

New Zealand also confirmed England director of cricket Rob Key met Stokes this week.