England head coach Trevor Bayliss has called on Ben Stokes to make a public apology over the events which led to his eventual acquittal for affray.
Stokes was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday, almost 11 months after being arrested following a brawl outside a nightclub in the Clifton area of the city.
Within two hours of the end of the case, England announced their premier all-rounder was being added to the 13-man squad for the third Test against India at Trent Bridge, from which he had been omitted the previous day.
Stokes was therefore back at practice on Thursday afternoon - and, shortly before he joined his colleagues at nets again, it was left to Bayliss to speak on the matter.
Australian Bayliss, who reported a final call is yet to be made on whether Stokes returns to a winning side this weekend, acknowledged a public apology should and probably would be forthcoming.
"I think it was important to actually apologise to the boys in the team, management of the team and management at the ECB, who had to go through a lot of extra activities to work our way through it," Bayliss said.
As to whether that will be relayed to a wider audience, he added: "I'm sure something will be forthcoming.
"That'll be up to Ben and his management team, I suppose.
"But certainly, when he came out to New Zealand after the Ashes tour that he missed, he addressed the players in the changing room when he first arrived.
"So from our point of view, his contrition was evident for the boys in the team."
Stokes has already missed six Test matches, including last week's at Lord's, which clashed with his court case, and 11 limited-overs fixtures for England, as a result of the night out in Bristol.
He and white-ball batsman Alex Hales, who was present during the fracas, will be subject to a Cricket Discipline Commission hearing, conducted at arm's length from the ECB, to decide whether any further penalty is appropriate from their employers.
In the meantime, it seems highly likely Stokes will be playing again this weekend, although Bayliss stopped well short of confirming that.
He said: "There's nothing automatic about selections - we'll see how he is mentally as well as physically."
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