'He's not kind of apologised for that' - Michael Atherton reacts to Ben Stokes' comments after nightclub saga

Former England captain Michael Atherton has shared his thoughts on Ben Stokes' return to the Test squad as captain following the chaos that engulfed the side due to the nightclub controversy involving him and fast bowler Gus Atkinson.

Atherton acknowledges that Stokes has taken full responsibility and ownership of all the off-field chaos that surrounded the side after their win in the first Test at Lord's, which subsequently rumbled on during the second Test, which England lost by 253 runs under interim captain Joe Root and three debutants.

Despite taking accountability for the incident, Atherton said that Stokes believes he did nothing wrong, which is why he has not outright apologised for the nightclub saga.

"I think from what he said to me and to the press conference before that he has taken ownership of the subsequent chaos that has enveloped the team. Whether he feels he did anything wrong is another matter. He's not kind of apologised for that. But I think he's taken ownership and recognise that the consequences of what happened after Lord's have been bad for the team, you know they got whacked at the Oval having made so many changes, the debutants who came and won't be a happy memory for those debutants at the Oval. So, I think he acknowledges that but there was quite a lot of things said has remained unsaid about the disciplinary process, about what happened over the over the 10 days subsequent to Lord's so you get the sense that that he kind of contrite for the effects of it but not necessarily feels that he's done anything wrong," Michael Atherton said on the Sky Cricket Podcast.

Stokes spoke to the media for the first time since the controversy on Wednesday, June 24, where he commented on many things, including his relationship with coach Brendon McCullum and taking ownership of the turmoil that followed.

Stokes apologises to England squad ahead of captaincy return

The all-rounder, along with Atkinson, returns to the playing XI after missing the second Test match at the Oval. England will be looking to end this series on a high note to put all the off-field noise behind them.