The Test, and eventually the international career of England all-rounder Ben Stokes has come to an end, as New Zealand beat hosts in the third and final Test at Trent Bridge by a massive 160 runs, on Monday. It was not the kind of farewell that Stokes would have hoped for, as his side lost the series 2-1, their first home series loss since 2021, which too had come against the same opposition.
But coming back to Stokes, the decision came unexpectedly — that shocked the entire English cricketing community. He told SkySports on Sunday, upon the end of day 4, that he didn’t ‘have any more fight left in me’. During this very interaction, he revealed, that he had discussed his decision with his wife, and now ex-teammates Joe Root and Stuart Broad.
“I’ll never begrudge any moment where I’ve captained the team and walked the team out,” Stokes had said. “It’s simply the greatest honour you could ever put on your shoulders as a player. But there’s another side to it all which people don’t see, people don’t understand.
“Only people close to those people [captains] can really see it … it does drain you, it does affect you in a negative way. It’s literally been four-and-a-half years where I’ve loved every single moment … but some moments have been harder than others.”
The Extraordinary Test record of Ben Stokes
In a Test career spanning 13 years, the 35-year-old went on to play 122 Tests, where he picked 252 wickets at an average of 30.98, including 6 fifers, and also scored 7273 runs at an average of 34.46. He had 14 tons and 37 fifties to his name. What was truly remarkable is, he is only one of the two players in Test cricket history, who have a double of 7000 runs and 250 wickets — along with South Africa’s Jacques Kallis.
England’s best captain?
Looking at Stokes’ record, he is one of England’s most successful skippers of all times. Under his leadership, England played 42 matches, where they won 23 and lost 17. Just two of those were draws. He took over the reigns of the team full-time in 2022, during the series of New Zealand that they won 3-0.
The last match performance
In his last Test, he came up with a mediocre show. In bowling, he claimed six wickets in all, while with the bat he scored 45 runs across both innings. In the first innings, the Kiwis posted 438 on the board, and England could manage 354 in reply. Come the second innings, NZ scored 288/9, leaving England to chase 372. But they were bundled out for only 212.
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