Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson withdrawn from County Championship games

Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson have withdrawn from County Championship fixtures, the clearest indication that they will still be able to play for England in the third Test against New Zealand.

Skipper Stokes and pace bowler Atkinson have been made unavailable for the second Test, which starts on Wednesday, pending the completion of an investigation into an incident at a London nightclub.

However, with Stokes representing Durham and Atkinson representing Surrey in the first two days of the matches, which started on Friday, both were allowed to play domestic cricket.

They withdrew before the third day, meaning Stokes would no longer feature in Durham’s home match against Northamptonshire and Atkinson would leave Surrey’s match at Glamorgan.

More to follow.