NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) England cricket coach Brendon McCullum insists his relationship with good friend and captain Ben Stokes hasn't been strained by the chaotic events of the past two weeks.Stokes was dropped for last week's second test against New Zealand, along with fast bowler Gus Atkinson, amid an investigation that found they breached specific contractual obligations on a night out after the victory in the first test at Lord's.Stokes and Atkinson are back in the squad for the third and deciding test at Trent Bridge starting Thursday the series is tied at 1-1 and a report in British newspaper The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday said there was a rift between Stokes and the team leadership, which includes McCullum.That was denied by McCullum, who said he had a great catchup with Stokes for more than an hour on Tuesday morning.He looks ready to go, enthusiastic about the week, and from our point of view its nice to have the band back together, McCullum said.Weve been through a lot together as a working pair in leadership positions here in English cricket, the New Zealander added. In the end, we both want whats right and whats best for English cricket, and were crystal clear on the direction we want this team to take.McCullum never publicly backed Stokes to return as captain while the investigation was ongoing and said I worry for him in light of the post-first test night out that included a trip to a nightclub.Since then, Stokes has played for his county team, Durham, and hit 95.Now, McCullum said Stokes looked outstanding and fantastic.I think we had a process we had to go through, things needed to be ticked off, and weve arrived at this stage now, and were excited to see him back leading us on, he said.England won the first test by 115 runs before New Zealand tied the series with a dominant 253-run win at The Oval.___AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket