London: Ian Botham has criticised dropped England captain Ben Stokes for breaking a team curfew, with the cricket great saying he does not see "how you justify what happened".

Both all-rounder Stokes and paceman Gus Atkinson were made unavailable for the ongoing second Test against New Zealand at the Oval pending an investigation into an incident in a London bar.

Stokes, 35, and Atkinson, 28, broke the England team's midnight curfew while celebrating victory in the first Test at Lord's a fortnight ago, with a member of the team's security staff reportedly struck by a Saracens rugby player.

The England duo are being investigated by both the England and Wales Cricket Board and the independent Cricket Regulator.

"Some people just don't learn, do they? It's as simple as that," Botham told the Stick to Cricket podcast in comments reported by the BBC.

Botham, president of Stokes' county side Durham, added: "We as a club when he (Stokes) had the problems in Bristol (in 2017), we stood by him."

He added: "I don't see how you can justify what happened after the game (at Lord's), especially when you were probably very much in charge of when the curfew is, midnight."

Also read: Injury-hit Shreyanka Patil ruled out of Women's T20 World Cup, Prema Rawat roped in as replacement 

Stokes has been named in Durham's 15-man squad for their County Championship fixture against Northamptonshire, which starts on Friday, but his England future remains uncertain.

Botham, one of the outstanding all-rounders of his generation, was renowned as a cricketer who worked hard on the field and enjoyed himself off it too.

The 70-year-old said players of his era "used to love going out for a drink" but said they "weren't quite so obvious" compared to present-day cricketers.

England faced allegations of a drinking culture during a woeful 4-1 series loss in Australia during the 2025/26 Ashes.

Before the Ashes, white-ball captain Harry Brook was punched by a nightclub bouncer in Wellington ahead of a one-day international against New Zealand.

As a result, England imposed a midnight curfew on all players and staff.

Former England captain Botham, who scored 5,200 runs and took 383 wickets in 102 Tests, said he would not be shocked if Stokes were to quit cricket completely should he no longer be skipper.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Ben was to lose the (England) captaincy, he probably might walk away from the game," Botham said. "But I just don't know." (AFP)