Ben Stokes considers shock England retirement

Ben Stokes is considering walking away from international cricket after claims he has been given an ultimatum by England chiefs to quit the Test captaincy or be sacked. The 35-year-old has been one of the most inspirational leaders in England’s history but if this is to be the end to his storied career it would be both sad and unnecessary. Having broken “protocols” by staying out past the team’s midnight curfew with Gus Atkinson following the first Test victory against New Zealand at Lord’s last Sunday, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has opened an investigation into what it termed an “incident” in a west London nightclub in which Saracens rugby player Totoa Auvaa allegedly aimed a punch at Atkinson. While missing the Surrey bowler, Auvaa is said to have instead struck a member of England’s security team who was accompanying the players. While the ECB is still establishing all the facts, the incident is serious enough for Stokes to be considering his future. The possibility of a two-match ban that would rule the captain out of the final two Tests against New Zealand has been mooted. But in a development that would rock English cricket to its foundations, The i Paper understands he is close to quitting international cricket for good having been told to make a decision on his future by the ECB. It is understood the ball has been left in Stokes’s court and the ECB is awaiting his answer, but putting pressure on him to make a decision quickly because they do not want this affair overshadowing the start of the women’s T20 World Cup at Edgbaston on Friday. The i Paper has been told by sources that Stokes was given an ultimatum to quit the captaincy or be sacked. However the ECB denied this when contacted on Tuesday. If Stokes does retire from international cricket, questions will be asked of the ECB hierarchy’s handling of this situation, with the end result feeling completely disproportionate for breaking a team curfew that was only put in place because his likely successor, Harry Brook, was punched by a bouncer in Wellington during last winter’s tour of New Zealand. There is some irony in the fact Harry Brook is expected to replace Stokes as captain (Photo: Getty) Brook is expected to captain next week’s second Test against New Zealand at The Oval and is likely to be named as Stokes’s full-time successor before that match. He would be the first person to captain England across all formats since Sir Alastair Cook in 2012. The ramifications of Stokes’s potential retirement would be felt deeply across the coming days and months given his totemic presence in the England dressing room over the past 15 years. Over his career, he played a key role in England winning the 2019 ODI World Cup, when he rescued the team with the bat during a nervy and ultimately tied final against New Zealand at Lord’s that the hosts won via a boundary countback. Later the same summer he played one of the greatest Test innings of all time when his unbeaten century sealed a one-wicket win against Australia at Headingley to keep England in the Ashes series, after they had been bowled out for just 67 in the same match. Three years later he was at the crease to help get England over the line with an unbeaten half-century in the final of the T20 World Cup against Pakistan in Melbourne. Stokes has delivered some of England’s greatest moments over the past decade (Photo: Getty) It is his tenure as Test captain since 2022 that has really shown him at his inspirational best. Having taken over a team who had won just one match in 17, alongside coach Brendon McCullum he transformed England’s fortunes, as they won 11 of their next 12 Tests, including several high-scoring run chases that included overhauling a target of 378 against India at Edgbaston. Results dropped off after that, with England failing to win all four series against Australia and India under Stokes. Yet despite the team’s 4-1 Ashes hammering in Australia last winter, his position was never in danger, such is his importance to the team as an all-rounder and a leader. Having won 24 of his 43 Tests in charge, his 55.81 win percentage is only bettered in the modern era by Mike Brearley in terms of Englishmen who have captained a minimum of 20 Tests. For his career to end this way would not only be a shock but deeply sad. The only hope for fans – and the whole of English cricket – is that Stokes decides to carry on playing without the captaincy. Sadly, the odds seemed stacked against that outcome right now.