June 21 (Reuters) - Ben Stokes ⁠has been withdrawn from the remainder of Durham's ⁠county championship match against Northamptonshire at the request of ‌the England and Wales Cricket Board, Durham said on Sunday, in a possible indicator of an England return.

Stokes, England's test captain since 2022, was ​left out of the sidepending an ECB ⁠investigation into an incident ⁠at a London nightclub following the first-test victory over New ⁠Zealand ‌at Lord's.

The 35-year-old impressed for Durham, scoring 95 off 118 balls against Northamptonshire.

England are heading towards a ⁠likely defeat in the second test at The ​Oval, ending day ‌four on 182-5 while chasing what would be a ⁠record 463.

Joe ​Root has deputised as captain in Stokes' absence and reached the milestone of 14,000 test runs,becoming only the second player to ⁠do so after India great Sachin ​Tendulkar.

The ECB are reported to be awaiting a report from the Cricket Regulator into Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson, who ⁠broke the team curfew after the 115-run win in the opening test.

The BBC reported on Sunday that Atkinson has also been withdrawn from his county championship fixture. He had taken ​four wickets for his county side Surrey ⁠against Glamorgan.

The ECB did not immediately respond to a Reuters ​request for comment.

The third test match ‌between England and New Zealand begins ​on June 25 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)