Ben Stokes nightclub incident: Marathon drinking session that led to nightclub clash and put England captain’s future in doubt

Ben Stokes’ position as England test cricket captain is in major doubt after the national team is at the centre of another late-night drinking incident.

Five months since a shameful tour of New Zealand and Australia concluded with vice-captain Harry Brook apologising after being punched by a bouncer – as well as a subsequent cover-up – English cricket is battling yet another alcohol-related scandal.

Premier rugby club the Saracens have also been caught up in the controversy after both sets of players spent the afternoon and evening drinking across several haunts in west London.

Telegraph Sport revealed academy player Totoa Auvaa was understood to have aimed a punch at Stokes’ team-mate Gus Atkinson, but connected with an England and Wales Cricket Board security official who required stitches. A melee followed, the details of which remain uncertain, but now Stokes and Atkinson are subject of an investigation from the board that jeopardises their playing futures.

This is how the afternoon and evening played out before events turned sour in a Chelsea nightclub:

Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood

Atkinson bowls the final delivery to dismiss New Zealand’s Matt Henry and secure a 115-run victory for England, with the fast bowler walking off the field to a standing ovation after taking a five-wicket haul. The England team retreat to their dressing room to start the celebrations, having clinched a much-needed victory after the winter’s Ashes drubbing.

At 2pm, Stokes emerges for his post-match press conference with the media, in which he says he is looking forward to sharing a “proper beer with the boys” as soon as his captaincy duties are completed.

The rest of the England players are enjoying a few beers together in the Lord’s dressing room, with fans on the outfield below cheering the likes of man of the match Ollie Robinson as he appears on the balcony with a Guinness.

The Boundary, Chelsea

Saracens players had been on an end-of-season social after their Saturday loss at Exeter meant the end of their Prem campaign, having missed out on the play-offs. The club are also acknowledging the farewell season of Mark McCall, their longstanding director of rugby.

The group embark on a pub crawl around Hammersmith and Fulham, which is understood to have involved at least two other pubs in the area. More than 20 players drink at the Crabtree pub in Fulham, arriving between 2 and 3pm and staying until around 5pm. A local said: “There were a number of Saracens players drinking here on Sunday. I didn’t see any cricketers. I certainly didn’t see Ben Stokes. They were all well behaved.”

At one point in the evening, the Saracens players are understood to have stopped in at the Boundary on the King’s Rd, the more than 3km strip running through southwest London that has become a destination for luxury wining and dining.

The Boundary is part-owned by a consortium of sportsmen including England coach Brendon McCullum and Saracens hooker Jamie George, and is a popular destination among both cricket and rugby players. Former and current England cricketers Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Sam Billings also co-founded the pub, with Ireland cricketer Paul Stirling and South Africa great Graeme Smith.

The Boundary is between the White Horse and the Rex Rooms, a nightclub in Chelsea where players ended the evening.

The White Horse, Parsons Green

A few England players begin to drift off home before a group of around seven head to west London. The squad had been staying at the Royal Garden Hotel on Kensington High Street, where England often base themselves for home Tests in the capital, but the players were thought to arrive at The White Horse in Parsons Green close to 9pm.

At the White Horse, known colloquially as the Sloaney Pony, the England cricketers are understood to have met the Saracens players, and relationships are jovial. Ben Earl, the Saracens and England back row, knows many of Stokes’s team-mates as he is a childhood friend of opener Zak Crawley, who was an England regular until being dropped for this series.

Stokes is understood to have been at the pub with about 20 others, including team-mate Joe Root and England rugby union captain Maro Itoje. A barman, who asked not to be named, said: “Ben Stokes was drinking rum and coke. He only had a couple. It was very civil in here.

“There were about 20 of them in all, including the rugby players and the cricketers. They all left when we closed at 11pm. It was all guys. The rounds were just huge.

The barman added: “I don’t know if they arrived together, but all of a sudden all the cricket players and the rugby boys were all together chatting.

“I wasn’t aware they had security. It wasn’t obvious if they did. They were all chatting and were super nice. They weren’t causing any trouble. Joe Root wasn’t really involved. He was sitting down in the corner just chatting.”

Telegraph Sport understands that players from both teams left the White Horse in taxis.

The Rex Rooms, Chelsea

After the Ashes debacle, Stokes and McCullum reintroduced a player curfew that is in effect on the night of the celebrations. By the midnight cut-off, only Stokes and Atkinson remain out from the cricketing side, with a handful of Saracens players. Auvaa and Theo McFarland are thought to be among them. The group arrive at the Rex Rooms nightclub in Chelsea.

The venue is hosting the “official after-party” for Chestertons Polo in the Park, the annual polo celebration at the Hurlingham Club. On Instagram, the Rex Rooms advertises “Special guests just arrived” while a video shows young revellers queuing for entry outside.

About 1am, an incident takes place in the VIP area, around 12 hours after the Test ended. It remains unclear what prompted the fracas, but Auvaa is believed to have taken a swing at Atkinson, connecting instead with a member of the England security detail, who required stitches. It is unclear whether more punches were thrown in the ensuing melee. The police are not involved and the cricketers are not injured.

- Daily Telegraph UK