Ben Stokes will return as England captain for next week's third and deciding Test against New Zealand in Nottingham, head coach Brendon McCullum announced Sunday.
Stokes was stood down from England's emphatic 253-run defeat by New Zealand in the second Test at the Oval completed Sunday for breaching a team curfew following his side's win in the series opener at Lord's earlier this month.
But McCullum, speaking after New Zealand levelled the three-match series, said: "Ben will be back. He'll be back as captain."
Although absent from the second Test, all-rounder Stokes, 35, was permitted to play for Durham and he made 95 against Northamptonshire in the County Championship on Saturday.
But on Sunday, before play started, both Stokes and Surrey paceman Gus Atkinson, also dropped by England this week for his part in the curfew breach were both removed from their respective domestic matches in the clearest sign yet they were being primed for a Test recall next week.
McCullum confirmed Stokes would return as England skipper at Trent Bridge by telling reporters at the Oval: "Ben will be back. He'll be back and he'll be captain.
"I think everyone is excited about that, especially after seeing him hit some form for Durham," former New Zealand captain McCullum added.
"I've been speaking to Ben every single day since we had the incident and my assessment was that I was worried about him. To see him go out there and play some cricket and look like he was enjoying himself is really positive.
"I'm not going to divulge our conversations because they are confidential, but it's great to see him back playing and I look forward to seeing him in a couple of days."
Both McCullum and Stokes denied suggestions of an increasingly strained relationship during England's woeful tour of Australia, which culminated in a 4-1 Ashes series loss in January.
But the fact the England captain, who is supposed to set standards for the rest of the team, has fallen foul of the curfew policy is understood to have caused huge frustration among senior officials, with investigations by the England and Wales Cricket Board and the independent Cricket Regulator into Stokes and Atkinson's night out at a London bar ongoing.
McCullum and Stokes joined forces as coach and captain in 2022, with the pair presiding over some thrilling wins as England adopted an ultra-aggressive approach to Test cricket dubbed 'Bazball' -- a tribute to McCullum's nickname.
Asked if they could still operate as a duo in those roles, McCullum replied: "We've worked together intimately for four years, we've achieved some cool things and we've let ourselves down in other things.
"We have robust conversations all the way through and that's to be expected when you're in positions of leadership. There's mutual respect there.
"I've been very clear and very supportive of Ben throughout and particularly this week as well. I anticipate we'll be able to work together really well with the week coming and I'm sure both of us still have that same vision for this cricket team."
McCullum, however, insisted he was not giving Stokes a free pass, saying there were "times you can't walk past when standards have slipped or mistakes have been made".
"You address it and you try to move on."
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