Ben Stokes says kicks-you-straight-in-the-face moment prompted retirement - 'I don't actually think I have any more fight left in me'
Updated 28/06/2026 at 21:10 GMT+1
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Ben Stokes says he felt a moment that "kicks you straight in the face" before making the surprise decision to retire from international cricket. The England captain will bow out after the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, which finishes on Monday.
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Stokes made the stunning announcement on the fourth day of the third and deciding Test against New Zealand.
Shortly after the news was broken, Stokes took a wicket at Trent Bridge and he later opened the batting, hitting a quickfire 30.
Speaking to Sky Sports straight after play had finished for the day, Stokes explained how the first Test at Lord's largely made his mind up about his future.
"To be honest, the Lord's Test for me was something that brought back some kind of negative feelings about where I was in my career," Stokes said.
"I'd worked so hard since getting home [from the Ashes defeat in Australia] 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 think I just burnt myself out.
"So when I got to Lord's, it was an interesting and strange feeling going into it. I've always thought that sometimes having too much time on my hands isn't the best thing for me.
"I spoke to so many people during this process and I tried, I gave myself every opportunity, to potentially think it was just a blip or that something was not quite right.
"But everyone says that moment kicks you straight in the face and I thought it did a few weeks ago. But as I was putting my pads on yesterday getting ready to go out there, that was the nail in the coffin."
Stokes was made unavailable for the second Test against New Zealand following an incident in a London nightclub.
The 35-year-old made reference to that on Sunday, saying: "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.
"But I absolutely love the game and 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.
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Ben Stokes is given a guard of honour at the start of the third session at Trent Bridge on Sunday
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"It might sound quite selfish, but this decision is genuinely the best thing for me right now.
"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."
Stokes suggested issues in recent months had sucked the fight from him.
He said: "I said to my wife 'I don't actually think I have any more fight left in me to get over this to be honest.'"
Stokes told former captain Joe Root and vice-captain Harry Brook about his decision on Saturday night, and then revealed the news to the rest of the England team in the dressing room on Sunday morning.
"It's been an interesting four or five weeks, maybe six months in general," Stokes added.
"There are all kinds of emotions when this day comes - relief, happiness, excitement, sadness. Everything that you go through.
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"It's the best thing that I've ever been asked to do, captaining England. It is the greatest honour to have on your shoulders but there is also another side to it that people don't see, only those closest to you see it.
"My family, my wife, they see the bits where it does drain you and it does affect you negatively."
Stokes will go down as one of England's greatest cricketers. Some of his exploits - like in the World Cup final victory against New Zealand in 2019 or the Ashes Test at Headingley in the same year - will go down in folklore.
Stokes has played 122 Tests for England, 44 of them as captain. He also played 114 one-day internationals and 43 T20s.
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