Ben Stokes, the long-time England talisman, bowed out of international cricket on Monday after the Three Lions faced a crushing defeat in the third and final Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. One of the best all-rounders the game has ever seen, Stokes stunned the world on Sunday after announcing his retirement from international cricket. The 35-year-old brought the curtain down on an illustrious career that lasted almost 15 years in international cricket.
Stokes’ decision to retire also came in the aftermath of the nightclub incident after the Lord’s Test. The England captain was dropped for the second Test at the Oval after he broke the team curfew and went to the nightclub with pacer Gus Atkinson. However, the all-rounder was cleared of any wrongdoing and made his way back into the team for the series decider.
However, right before the tea break on Day 4, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that Stokes would be retiring after the conclusion of the Trent Bridge Test.
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“I explained that in as much detail as I could yesterday. I hope it can be respected that the most important person to make the decision is myself. I spoke to a number of people I trust, tried to get myself through the series, but it wasn’t meant to be. Happy with everything I did in my career. It is sad, some things I will miss. A lot of emotion, but I’m proud of what I did and grateful to the fans who follow us around and show their support,” Stokes said at the post-match presentation.
“Told people I’m close to in the team the night before. The comms team I’ve got here, they came up with a plan. Look at the way the last two weeks have unfolded, and it’s been interesting. Something pretty simple ended up being a bit complicated. I can look back and have a laugh, there was a bit controversy around my last game, but I’ll look back fondly,” he added.
‘Played with the best’
Stokes, who was named as the England captain in 2022, also said that he would look back at his career fondly as he got to share the dressing room with some of the biggest names, such as James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Joe Root.
“Look back at some things I’ve been involved in, being able to say I’ve played with the best players England has produced. I know I’ve done some decent things on the field but I’m lucky I’ve seen Joe Root, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Alastair Cook. Not only have I been involved, as a proud Englishman, but also with some of the greats of the game,” he said.
Stokes is just the second player in the world to have more than 250 wickets and 7000 runs in Test matches. The all-rounder represented England in 122 Tests, 114 ODIs and 43 T20Is. He will always be remembered for his heroics in the 2019 World Cup final and the Headingly Test against Australia in the Ashes.
