The China Mail - Stokes straight back into the action as New Zealand bat in 3rd Test

Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson were dropped from the second Test after breaking a midnight curfew in an incident at a London nightclub celebrating England's win in the series opener at Lord's.

In their absence, an England team led by stand-in captain Joe Root and showing five changes -- including three debutants -- suffered a 253-run thrashing at the Oval as New Zealand levelled the series at 1-1.

Both Stokes and Atkinson, issued with a written conduct warning while cleared of any wrongdoing in a physical altercation, have now been restored to the England team for the series finale.

England made four changes to their side, with Stokes and Atkinson returning in place of batsman Jordan Cox and paceman Sonny Baker -- two of England's debutants at the Oval.

Wicket-keeper Jamie Smith, who missed the second Test because of paternity leave, came back after James Rew endured a tough debut at the Oval and off-spinner Shoaib Bashir was preferred to seamer Matthew Fisher as England opted for a specialist slow bowler in extremely hot conditions in Nottingham.

- 'Good to be back' -

"We would've had a bat as well," said Stokes after losing the toss.

"It's very good to be back. We have some fond memories of playing series against New Zealand, this is no different. It's a massive game for the team, for myself, and hopefully we can lift the trophy at the end."

England left out the fit-again Ollie Robinson, who missed the second Test through injury, despite the seamer taking seven wickets at Lord's.

"We're not pigeonholing ourselves to do the same things over and over again," said Stokes as he explained Robinson's omission.

"It's a conditions-based selection and it's always good to see Jofra Archer in an England shirt."

New Zealand suffered a double blow before play when they announced both Matt Henry (calf strain) and Glenn Phillips (side strain), who starred at the Oval with 11 wickets and a maiden Test century respectively, had pulled out through injury.

The Black Caps had already revealed on Wednesday that towering fast bowler Kyle Jamieson would miss this match as a fitness precaution following several back injuries, despite taking 10 wickets in the first two Tests.

"Unfortunately Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry have been ruled out with some niggles so Mitchell Santner and Ben Sears come in," said Latham.

"Kyle Jamieson is rested because of workload and Blair Tickner is in.

"Matt Henry is a big miss, he's someone who brings a lot of experience, but also his skill and workload and obviously we'll be missing him this week."

Teams

England: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wkt), Ben Stokes (capt), Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir

New Zealand: Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wkt), Mitchell Santner, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Will O'Rourke, Ben Sears

Umpires: Nitin Menon (IND), Rod Tucker (AUS)

TV umpire: Adrian Holdstock (RSA)

Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)

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