England captain Ben Stokes says retiring from international cricket 'best thing' for him

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Retirement the best thing for me - Stokes Figure caption, 'This is remarkable' - Stokes gets guard of honour as he opens battingByStephan Shemilt Cricket Correspondent at Trent BridgePublished28 June 2026, 19:23 BSTUpdated 2 minutes agoBen Stokes said retiring from international cricket is the "best thing" for him after he revealed England's final Test against New Zealand will be his last. The 35-year-old, one of the greatest cricketers to ever play for England, made the stunning announcement on the fourth day of the deciding Test at Trent Bridge. It means his international career will end on Monday after 15 years, 122 Tests, 114 one-day internationals and 43 T20s.

"It might sound quite selfish but this decision is genuinely the best thing for me right now," Stokes told Sky Sports. "I hope it's the best thing for the team going forward but I also hope it's what will allow me to keep loving this game that has given me so much. "The all-rounder denied the decision was made as a direct result of events in the past three weeks, when he was made unavailable for England's second Test against New Zealand following an incident in a London nightclub.

The Details

Instead, he said he had been considering ending his career since England's 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia, and had further thoughts of retiring during the first Test of the summer at Lord's. "The Lord's Test, for me, was something that brought back negative feelings about where I was in my career," he said. "I'd worked so hard since getting home to put things right, or at least that's what I thought I was doing.

I put so much time and effort into doing that and I just burned myself out. "However, Stokes did confirm the nightclub controversy "added" to thoughts of calling time. "There was a build-up to it, how things were during the whole week at Lord's and then another moment when I sat next to Joe Root in the dressing room," he said.

"Obviously another scenario happened that added to it. It's never easy with me, is it? It was an unfortunate situation to be involved in over the past two weeks.

What Experts Say

"England set for series defeat in Stokes' last Test Published1 hour agoEngland will miss Stokes' winning persona - Vaughan Published2 hours agoEngland captain Ben Stokes announces retirement Published4 hours agoWhen Stokes was away from the England team for the second Test, he played for Durham and said returning to his county rekindled a love for the game. He confirmed he will continue to play domestic cricket. "Being back at Durham, when I wasn't playing in the second Test, I found a new lease of life for the game, but unfortunately I just couldn't get that feeling back this week," said Stokes.

"I'm very excited about the next part of what I get to do. Going back to playing for my boyhood club Durham, I'm comparing this week to that week - right now I am buzzing, but there have been moments this week that have been really tough and it just adds to everything and it makes it clear that I've made the right decision.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.