England Test captain Ben Stokes announced his retirement from international cricket after the third Test against New Zealand.
England Cricket shared a video of Stokes briefing his teammates 15 minutes before the tea break on the fourth day of the third and final Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
โThese are my last two days as captain and my last two days representing England,โ Stokes told his teammates in a video released by England Cricket on Sunday.
โThe reasons can wait,โ Stokes said.
โBut Iโve already had a lot of trips to the well for this team, for you guys, for the people. I have one more trip to go.โ
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โThe only thing I ask please is if everyone else can do the same.
โWe still have a lot of hard work to do and the only thing I want is to be able to walk off the field, regardless of the result, knowing that this group of men gave their all over the last two days.
โAll the ass tapping, all the emotion, can we please just wait until the end of the game because we still have a lot of work to do.
โLetโs just go out and fucking give it absolutely everything for two more days.โ
The news spread through the crowd at Trent Bridge and Stokes, 35, received a standing ovation from the England fans as he labored over his trademark bowling spell.
The very next ball after the ovation, Stokes took a wicket and, to the delight of the crowd, was surrounded by a crowd of his England teammates.
Former England captain Mike Atherton told Kayo Sports: โThis is clearly a planned spell. He wants to be remembered for one of those devastating spells that made him the cricketer he is.โ
Stokes was greeted by a guard of honor from England and New Zealand players as he took the field after the tea break.
Atherton described Stokesโ departure as โabsolutely stunning newsโ.
โIt will end one of Englandโs great careers,โ he said.
The theater continued when Stokes came out to open the scoring in the fourth innings.
Having set a target of 373 for victory, for a moment a fairytale finish seemed possible when Stokes and Ben Duckett made a 50-run opening stand, but Stokes was dismissed for 30 off 20 balls.
After Harry Brooke was out for 21 off 9 balls, taking him to good leg, Atherton joked: โIt didnโt feel like the captainโs delivery was waiting.
โEngland may burn. It is falling apart for England.โ
England finished the fourth day at 4/106 and still needed 270 runs to win. Looking at the 2-1 series defeat, Atherton described Englandโs performance as โpretty forgivingโ.
Stokes became the first casualty of the Civil War in English cricket. Who will be the next captain?
There were rumors that one of Stokes, coach Brendon McCullum and England menโs cricket team managing director Rob Key would be victims of the civil war that has engulfed England cricket in recent times.
Relations between Stokes and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) soured after Stokes and bowler Gus Atkinson were suspended for the second Test against New Zealand for breaking curfew and being involved in a relatively minor incident at a nightclub in Chelsea, London.
Rumors of regime change in English cricket grew louder as Stokesโ camp suggested he had been thrown under the bus and not all players were directly informed of the midnight curfew.
Stokes, McCullum and Key kept their jobs after the disastrous Ashes tour of Australia, but the trioโs relationship has become increasingly fractured and untenable.
Vice-captain Harry Brooke was not suspended after being drunk the night before an ODI match against New Zealand earlier this year and, tellingly, Joe Root was given the captaincy in Brookeโs place for the second Test.
Stokesโ departure now raises the question of whether the 35-year-old Root will be the second coming as captain, or whether the ECB will hand over the captaincy to Brook ahead of the 2027 Ashes home summer.
Australia have drawn their last two Ashes series in England and their aging team is beatable, but the Aussies will feel more confident playing an England team without Stokes.
McCullum is contracted to coach England across all formats until the end of the next ODI World Cup at the end of 2027.
Atherton said: โThe proposal to give Brendon McCallum all three jobs was a terrible mistake.
โHow can you plan ahead for a white-ball series that starts two days after the end of this Test match?โ
โItโs an extraordinary, stunning moment and it raises a number of questions,โ Atherton said in a commentary questioning the timing of Stokesโ retirement.
โWhy and why now, in the middle of a day of cricket, with another day to go, a match to be won, drawn or lost, and a series on the line.
โI think there were some signs throughout this series. First at Lordโs, when he looked like the man who had led England for four years.
โApparently he missed the Oval match for disciplinary reasons and decided enough was enough.โ
Cricket reporter Nick Holt said on The Telegraphโs cricket podcast last week: โItโs very difficult to imagine England being led by Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes at the start of the Ashes next year. I donโt know which one of them will be there.โ
England Cricket said in a social media post: โOne of the greatest England captains of all time, Ben Stokes, has decided to retire from international cricket at the end of this Test match.
โBen, you were the most inspiring captain, leader and legend this team could ever hope for.
โWe love you very much and wish you all the best in your retirement. England will never be the same again.โ
Burnt outโ Stokes knew it was time.
Speaking after the game, Stokes suggested his decision to retire was down to his declining form with the bat, adding that he was potentially โburnt outโ ahead of the first Test against New Zealand at Lordโs.
โI gave myself every opportunity to think that maybe it was a slip or something was wrong,โ he said.
โWhen I put on pads to go outside yesterday, it was the nail in the coffin.
โIt was the build-up, the experience I had all week, coming off the pitch, and then another moment sitting next to my mate Joe in the dressing room.
โYou add another scenario (suspension) to it, which adds so much more to everything. Itโs never simple or easy with me. Itโs been an unfortunate situation to be put in the last couple of weeks.โ
Stokes said he intended to continue playing cricket, including for Durham County Cricket, but his time playing for England was over.
โYeah, Iโฆ (Iโll be) coming back and playing a little bit of county cricket and other opportunities that we have at the moment,โ he said in the BBC Test match special.
He added: โI love cricket very much. Coming back to Durham I have found a new lease of life through my connection with cricket and I havenโt been able to bring that feeling back here this week, no matter how hard I tried.โ
โThis decision is truly the best thing for me right now. It will allow me to continue to love the game. Iโm delighted to be back at my boyhood club, Durham.โ
Stokes will go down as one of the greatest ever players.
Stokes will go down in history as one of Englandโs all-time greatest players and captains.
Former England international Stuart Broad called Stokes a โtalismanโ and an โelite match winnerโ.
Atherton said Stokes was โan all-rounder with enormous ability to change the course of a matchโ.
Stokes will be remembered for countless match-winning knocks, most famously in the 2019 ODI World Cup final, as well as his stunning 135 not out at Headingley in the 2019 Ashes that broke Australiaโs hearts.
His final Test scores are 7273 runs at 34.46 and 252 wickets at 30.98.
Stokes scored his first Test century in Perth in the 2013โ14 Ashes, has always played some of his best cricket against Australia and was among Englandโs best in the 2019 and 2023 series.
His courageous 163-ball double century against South Africa in 2016 established Stokes as one of the most dangerous and attacking cricketers of his era.