While many in the cricketing community have criticised the actions of England captain Ben Stokes following England’s victory over New Zealand in the first Test, he has found support from former spinner Graeme Swann. Swann argued that players should not be subject to a curfew in the first place, particularly after winning a Test match.
His view contrasts with that of former England captain Michael Vaughan, who believes Stokes made a mistake by breaching the curfew imposed by the England and Wales Cricket
Board.
“My thoughts are very mixed on this. The fact that there’s a curfew put in place is… I’m a former player. You will never, ever convince me that a curfew is a good thing. It’s ridiculous that they even did that in the first place,” Swann said as quoted by Hindustan Times.
“I understand why they did it, because they’re trying to paint a good picture to other people, to a PR side of it. That doesn’t work. I think they’ll learn a lesson, the ECB, from that, that we shouldn’t have done that at all. We should have come out, sat down and actually talked about what we’re going to do as a culture and make sure we’re moving forward. But just to put a midnight curfew after winning a Test match, the day you’re not allowed to celebrate winning a Test match for your country is a dark day,” he added.
Swann went a step further by defending Stokes, insisting that he had done nothing wrong. Instead, he directed his criticism at the curfew policy introduced by the ECB, arguing that such restrictions are unnecessary, particularly after a successful Test match victory.
"I don't think Ben Stokes has done anything wrong here, other than go against a rule that shouldn't have been implemented in the first place. I don't know the story, what happened. No one knows the story. So, I'm not even going to comment on that. Like I say, he celebrated winning the Test match. I have no issue with that whatsoever. I do have a massive issue with the team curfew at midnight after winning a Test," Swann said.
