England captain Ben Stokes announced on Sunday that he will retire from international cricket after the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, ending a 15-year career.The news came at a time when Stokes was bowling. England Cricket Board issued a statement confirming that the 35-year-old will retire from international cricket after the Test.Stokes missed England’s second Test after an incident at a London nightclub. He only mentioned being captain “this week” before returning to Nottingham to lead the team.He informed his England teammates of his decision ahead of the start of the fourth day of the decisive Test against New Zealand.In the dressing room, an emotional Stokes said: “The reason can wait, why, but I’ve trained many times before for this team, for you guys, for the people before the game, and I have another one to go to.”“The only thing I ask is, can everyone do this?”“We still have a lot of hard work to do and the only thing I want is to be able to walk off the pitch, no matter what the result is, because I know this team gave everything they had over the past two days.“This is the only thing I want, and everyone is giving selfishly not only for me, but also for this team.“I’m over the emotional side of things. Now it’s time to go to work. Ask everyone else to come with me.”For Stokes, the decision ended a 15-year international career that included some of England’s most memorable cricketing moments.In the summer of 2019, he played a career-defining innings, scoring 84 runs as England won their first ODI World Cup, beating New Zealand in the final, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest matches in cricket history.Just six weeks later, Stokes played another innings that became part of Ashes folklore. His unbeaten 135 at Headingley led England to a one-wicket win over Australia, almost single-handedly preserving the series victory.
