Ben Stokes questioned whether he still has the fight left in him after he announced his international retirement midway through the third Test match between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge on Sunday, June 28. The official announcement came just after the Tea break on Day 4, with the all-rounder sharing the news with the rest of his team in the morning.
Stokes has had a roller coaster of a career, both on and off the field, from the heights of Headingley 2019 to the lows of the Bristol incident
in 2017. The 35-year-old stated how he has always had the mental fortitude to bounce back from disappointments, but that has taken a toll on him, particularly after losing the Ashes in Australia.
"Some pretty cool things … some good times, some pretty bad times. I feel like I'd been pretty good throughout my career at overcoming on-field disappointment, off-field disappointment. And then the emotional side of things, since Australia. The way I said it to my wife was I don't actually think I have any more fight left in me to get over this, to be honest," Ben Stokes said to Sky Sports, via Cricinfo.
Stokes also talked about the physical and mental burden he carried during his tenure as England captain. The left-handed batter has had multiple physical setbacks in recent times, which he has overcome. He also questioned whether he still wants to go through all of that whilst he is in the twilight of his playing career.
"This is brutal, what we do: physically, mentally. I'm 35. I feel like I have to do so much physical work to keep myself doing what I do out there. Again, do I have that in me? That fight in me to keep doing that? Because I know what it takes to walk out there and play for this country. There are so many things that have led me towards this being the right decision. There's the emotional side, the physical side, the mental side," he added.
Even before his retirement, the third Test in Nottingham was already a landmark game for Stokes in his illustrious Test career. He became only the second player, after Jacques Kallis, in the history of the format to take 250 wickets and score more than 7,000 runs.
Ben Stokes does not rule out franchise cricket
Stokes also revealed that he is only retiring from international cricket and will therefore continue to feature for Durham in the County Championship and will look to dip his toes into franchise cricket.
"Yes, I am... [I will be] going back and playing a little bit of county cricket and other opportunities that there is at the moment," Stokes told BBC Test Match Special, via Matt Roller.
It is worth mentioning that Stokes has not played in franchise cricket since his four-match stint for the Northern Superchargers (now Sunrisers Leeds) during The Hundred 2024. He also last played in the Indian Premier League back in 2023, representing the Chennai Super Kings in two matches.
