Ben Stokes retires from international cricket at Trent Bridge
Ben Stokes is retiring from international cricket at the end of the current test match. Wow.
Sam Freedman111Amazing moment. The crowd all found out and gave him a massive ovation and the next ball he got a wicket.
Andrew Howard14Furious about this. Keys and McCullum’s management of the Ashes prep was farcical. The review appears to result in only Zak Crawley (who did exactly what was reasonably expected of him in Aus) and Stokes being sacrificed. Proper Lions and Donkeys stuff.
Jon9Wish the ECB management were going instead.
jasonroberts3114.bsky.social8He is going to be sorely, sorely missed by English cricket. Not sure how the Stokes-shaped hole is going to be filled, especially in the context of the Ashes next summer. 🤔
Jon Horrocks3We have no obvious replacement as captain and definitely no replacement as a player.
Andrew White2Did the other players know - shades of Ziggy Stardust?
Taking a wicket immediately after receiving a standing ovation for your retirement is the most Ben Stokes thing ever. England Cricket legend. We will miss him so much.
Simon Jay1I absolutely love what Ben Stokes brings to the cricket field, magnificent leader & player. As ever with such departures, the worry starts about finding a suitable replacement, with effectively 3 players required to replicate Ben’s role. Time also for McCullum’s laidback malaise to depart asap.
disaac83.bsky.social1Sadly followed by one more round of failed Bazball batting for old times sake. Hope Key and McCullum join him on the way out, should have been after the Ashes I think.
Ian Botham was famously asked "who writes your scripts" ... the same could be said of Ben Stokes ... the ball after news of his retirement was broken to the ground
Martin Emmerson10Cuddunt mack it up marra.
Great drama, and Ben Stokes is a generational star etc, but is this not self-indulgent? Retires 4 days into a Test England need to win to save the series, hijacks an opener's place and swings like it's a T20 run chase. If he rescues the game, hallelujah. But it's all very odd.
Stuart Miles7This test has now descended into farce all because of the egotism of Ben Stokes. It’s a very poor reflection on him as a player and a person.
rich57h.bsky.social6The timing of the announcement, opening the batting, changing rest of the batting order, Brook’s brain dead innings: wtf is this all about. In the real world boring boring Mitchell shows how to win a Test match.
pileque.bsky.social5Gerd : "The contrast between the fashions of retirement between Kane Williamson and Ben Stokes could not be any sharper. Regards, a Williamson fan." You may have a point!
Mark McGagh5Drama and ego over the team. Not exactly captain behaviour.
Simon Evans4Me, me, me. Seems to be a total breakdown of discipline in the camp.
Jonathan Henderson3A graduate of the John Terry School of Captaincy
Feeling sorry for people from non-cricketing nations not understanding what a momentous event it is for Ben Stokes to announce his retirement from international cricket.
Sam Coleridge5The most popular New Zealand born cricketer in England atm.
Alan Stedman5Great player and an enigma of the first order My imprinted memory is this catch If you have played cricket I will not need to tell you how difficult it would have been to get to the ball let alone pouch this catch...with his 'wrong' hand youtu.be/h7GqCq61Y_E?...
Philip1I'm from a cricketing nation yet cannot comprehend why Stokes's retirement should be deemed "momentous". I wonder if it has anything to do with sport not being necessarily connected to nationality. Just a thought.
Marc Daney de Marcillac 🇪🇺🇫🇷🇬🇧1My father in law was an opening batsman for England, yet I have absolutely no idea how cricket is played.
Alan Stedman1No different to USA people posting re Basketball or NFL or even NHL I suggest
Judy Webb1O/h hadn't even heard of him!
A truly remarkable cricketer and possibly England’s greatest all-rounder which is some accolade given the brilliance of Botham. Indelibly etched in some of England’s finest moments. A sad moment but those of us who love the game should be thankful we saw him play.
Den of Scholes2Botham, Flintoff, Stokes and De Freitas. Unfortunately Phil played in an era where England were happy to just turn up. He was phenomenal. One of the few cricketers to finish his career with 10k+ runs and 1k+ wickets.
Jonathan Dodd 😎1A true talisman, up there with Flintoff and Botham. A bit of a shock he'sretired. Once Root retires at some point, England have several big gaps to fill.
Feels a little as though our puritanical and hypocritical media has forced Ben Stokes to retire.
Pudsey6It was always going to end this way. Rob Key should resign,he's essentially thrown Stokes to the dogs. What he should have said is "they are grown men and what they do outside of a test match is their business," but he's weak and went for curfews and bans. And England are substantially weaker now!
Stuart Miles2Just maybe his own behaviour could be a little to blame?
Craig Winstanley1Certainly can’t blame him for wanting to escape from them.
Malcolm Wood1Why has he retired? Heard in the pub he’d been scrapping.
Kevin Markland1I was there on Friday speculating that he might retire after the summer. And there today when they announced he had retired just as the tea interval was about to start. And it's fair to say there was surprise in the ground. It does feel as though he's been pushed.
