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Ben Stokes has been England Test captain since 2022 - Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Ben Stokes, the England captain, has stunned the cricket world by announcing his retirement in the middle of one final epic spell of bowling.
Stokes’s retirement was announced at 3.25pm, 15 minutes before tea on day four of the third Test against New Zealand, between the 10th and 11th overs of a trademark spell of old-ball bowling.
In an extraordinary moment of sporting theatre, Stokes received a standing ovation from the Trent Bridge crowd as he came on to bowl his next over – and took the wicket of Zak Foulkes with the first ball of it. He wheeled off in celebration. The catch, at second slip, was taken by Harry Brook, who could take over as captain.
Stokes had informed his team-mates on the fourth morning, in an emotional dressing-room speech. He told his team-mates that “reasons can wait”, with the third Test beautifully poised. When he left the field ahead of the rest of the players at tea, soon after his retirement, he received another rousing reception from the crowd. Entry is free on the fifth day.
“There’s something I know is going to happen over the next two days, which is going to be [that] this is my last two days as your captain, and my last two days representing England,” he said, in a video posted to England’s social media channels.
Credit: X/@englandcricket
“Reasons can wait [as to] why. But I’ve had many trips to the well before for this team, for you blokes, for people beforehand and I’ve got one more trip to do. The only thing that I ask, please, is can everyone else please just do the same?
“We’ve got a lot of hard work still to do, and the only thing that I want is to be able to walk off the end of that field, regardless of the result, knowing that I’ve had this group of men – and one lady [Sarah Taylor, the fielding coach] – give everything for the last two days.
“The only thing is want is just for everyone to give it, not only for me, selfishly, but also for this team and everything else that we’ve got going forward for you blokes. All the taps on the a---, all the emotion, all that kind of stuff, please can it just wait until the end of this game? Because we’ve still got a s---load more work to do, and I’ve got a s---load more work to do that I want to do.
“Let’s just go out there and f------ give absolutely everything for another two days, all right? Because that’s my only intention and that’s where all my energy is right now. Got the emotional side out of it, but now it’s time to work. And everyone else, please just come with me.”
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Stokes is given a guard of honour walking out for the final session on day four - Joe Giddens/PA
Stokes has had an extraordinary month. He missed the second Test at the Oval effectively suspended after he and Gus Atkinson breached the team’s curfew, before returning to lead the team at Trent Bridge. He considered immediate retirement in the aftermath of the curfew breach at Rex Rooms nightclub on the King’s Road, but appeared to have emerged from the incident with his standing as the team’s leader enhanced.
Stokes has had a glittering England career, playing 122 Tests across 14 years, during the course of which he has become only the second man after Jacques Kallis to take more than 7,000 runs and 250 wickets, a milestone he passed on Friday. He also was the key player in two England World Cup wins, in the ODI format in 2019 and T20 in 2022.
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Stokes was integral to England’s 2019 ODI World Cup win, and again in the T20 version three years later - Gareth Copley/Getty Images
The ECB statement announcing his retirement, including quotes from Richard Gould, the chief executive, and Richard Thompson, the chairman, but not head coach Brendon McCullum or director of cricket Rob Key.
Thompson said: “Ben Stokes leaves the international game as one of England’s greatest ever cricketers and one of the defining figures of his generation. His performances under pressure, his relentless competitiveness and his ability to produce the extraordinary when it matters most have given me and millions of other fans memories that will endure for ever.”
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