McCullum: Ready to work with Stokes again for third Test

England head coach Brendon McCullum has said he can work with Ben Stokes when the captain returns for the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. Stokes and pace bowler Gus Atkinson were made unavailable for the heavy second-Test defeat pending an investigation into an incident at a London nightclub.

Earlier, after a 4-1 Ashes series loss plagued by off-field issues, both Stokes and McCullum denied any deterioration in their relationship. Following England's win in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's, Stokes broke the team's midnight curfew while celebrating the victory.

The investigation results are yet to be confirmed, but McCullum told BBC Test Match Special he expects Stokes and Atkinson to be available in Nottingham, with Stokes resuming the captaincy. On his relationship with the captain, McCullum said: "You're just trying to make sure you're very communicative right throughout. We all got the same ambition, which is to make English cricket a very good team and to try to achieve results on the field, and that hasn't changed."

McCullum revealed he has spoken to Stokes every day since the nightclub incident, which occurred in the early hours of Monday, 8 June. The New Zealander also confirmed that England director of cricket Rob Key has visited Stokes this week.