Inside Ben Stokes' Shock Retirement From Test Cricket, Everything You Need To Know
Ben Stokes shocked the world when he announced his retirement from Test cricket during the last match against New Zealand.
- Cricket
- 2 min read
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Ben Stokes' shocking Test retirement shook the entire cricket circuit. During the 3rd Test, Stokes announced he would hang up his boots after the conclusion of the game. The move came after the ex-England captain breached the night curfew alongside Gus Atkinson after the first Test win at Lord's.
Ben Stokes Revealed Shocking Reason Behind Test Retirement
After the incident, the ECB launched an investigation, and Stokes was left out of the 2nd Test match, with Joe Root stepping up to lead the team. Stokes eventually came back to captain the team in his last Test match, and in a recent interaction on the Love of Cricket podcast, he detailed the thought process behind his decision.
"There's a lot to it that I think is just not for today or for the near future.
"There's a lot to it that I think is just not for today or for the near future.
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"I look at planning ahead and I was going "We've got the Ashes in 2027" and I think you know I spoke to (wife) Clare a lot about this even before I took the decision.
"You always plan your retirement, right? And it was 2027 Ashes, whatever happens there you're going 'Not sure I go past that'.
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"And then over time sort of I was (thinking) "How am I going to get there? How am I going to get to Australia 2027 with everything, with how everything is feeling at the moment?"
"Playing for Durham I'm going "How am I even going to get to end the New Zealand series?" I'm worrying about how I'm going to get there and thinking that Australia is going to be my last one."
Joe Root Took Charge As England Test Captain
Joe Root was appointed to replace Stokes as England's next Test captain. Root vacated the post back in 2022 and is all set to reclaim his position once again. Root's captaincy tenure ended on a sour note as England managed to record just one win in the last 17 matches.
Stephen Fleming also took over the charge from Brendon McCullum as England's new red-ball coach.