Lord Botham criticises Stokes for breaking curfew

Lord Botham criticises Stokes for breaking curfewImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Ben Stokes has played 121 Tests, 114 ODIs and 43 T20s for EnglandByTimothy AbrahamBBC Sport journalistPublished14 minutes agoLord Botham has criticised dropped England captain Ben Stokes for breaking a team curfew and says he does not see "how you justify what happened".All-rounder Stokes and pace bowler Gus Atkinson were made unavailable for the ongoing second Test against New Zealand pending an investigation into an incident in a London nightclub.Stokes, 35, and Atkinson, 28, broke the England team's midnight curfew while celebrating victory in the first Test at Lord's.They were present when a member of the England security staff was struck by a Saracens rugby player.Both men are subject to investigations from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Cricket Regulator.Botham, who is president of Stokes' county side Durham, having previously served as its chair, discussed Stokes' behaviour on an episode of the Stick to Cricket podcast that will be released in full next week."Some people just don't learn do they? It's as simple as that," said Botham."We as a club [Durham], when he had the problems in Bristol [in 2017], we stood by him, I stood by him, the whole team stood by him, I was chairman then. Everyone supported him then."I don't see how you can justify what happened after the game [at Lord's], especially when you were probably very much in charge of when the curfew is, midnight."Dropped England captain Stokes to play for DurhamPublished4 hours agoSpectre of Stokes hangs over England at The OvalPublished2 days agoStokes has been named in Durham's 15-man squad for their County Championship fixture against Northamptonshire, which starts on Friday, but his England future is uncertain.Botham himself had a reputation as a player who played hard on and off the field.The 70-year-old said pl...