Stokes created moments and the moments are no more

A young England fan at Trent Bridge holds up a sign that says: 'Thank You Stokesy'

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,

Ben Stokes has quit international cricket after a 15-year career packed with special moments

ByStephan ShemiltCricket Correspondent at Trent Bridge

Published1 hour ago

Naturally, there are numbers.

More Test runs than Graham Thorpe and Denis Compton, more caps than David Gower and Geoffrey Boycott.

More wickets than Darren Gough and Steve Harmison, at a better strike-rate than James Anderson and Ian Botham.

More Tests as captain than Mike Brearley and Raymond Illingworth. More Test sixes than any other man on the planet.

But Ben Stokes is a cricketer of more than mere numbers, even if his final Test tallies of 7,273 runs and 252 wickets leave him in the same statistical bracket as Sir Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis, bona fide legends.

Stokes is a cricketer of moments. 'I was there' moments. 'I know where I was when...' moments. 'I cannot believe he has done that' moments. As long as he is there, 'I believe' moments.

More moments than any other England cricketer? Certainly the most since Botham.

Perth 2013 and Cape Town 2016. Lord's and Headingley in that glorious summer of 2019, and Melbourne 2022. Masterminding all-time great wins in Rawalpindi and Hyderabad.

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Figure caption,

How England won an incredible Cricket World Cup final

The lad born in Christchurch and made in Cumbria, who became one of the most influential figures in English cricketing history.

The flame-haired tearaway who recovered from being hit for four successive sixes to lose a T20 World Cup final and an incident in Bristol that almost cost him his career to become one of the most significant figures in modern British sport.

England men's teams do not win World Cups of any kind very often. Those who have engineered those wins are immortals of their game - Sir Geoff Hurst, Jonny Wilkinson. Stokes has done it twice - the 50-over triumph in 2019 and the T20 title in 2022.

When Stokes was involved - at the crease, or launching himself into another tireless spell - there was hope. Where will the hope come from now?

Most athletes dream of leaving one lasting legacy. Stokes leaves two.

The first is of the superhero all-rounder, continuing a lineage of Botham and Andrew Flintoff.

Stokes' era of match-altering influence lasted longer than either of his forefathers, an achievement made more remarkable given his existence in the three-format generation.

He is a cricketing giant, though without the same level of superstardom as his predecessors, probably a result of an entire international career being played on pay TV.

Stokes' on-field presence is equal in size to Botham's and Flintoff's, yet he is more of an introvert off it. He will not end up in the House of Lords or presenting TV shows.

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Figure caption,

"The most extraordinary innings ever played by an Englishman"

Unlike the others, Stokes never produced a defining Ashes series - his performances against Australia came in isolation - but he was a better captain than Botham and Flintoff.

And captaincy is Stokes' second legacy. England often anoint future skippers a long way out - they are usually specialist batters. Stokes was never tipped for leadership, only to reveal himself as a superb man-manager and innovative tactician.

With 24 wins from his 44 matches in charge, Stokes tasted victory more often than any other captain since Brearley, widely regarded as England's best.

Again, Stokes' time in charge cannot be framed by numbers alone.

When he took control, English cricket was completely deflated - one win in 17 Tests and drained by Covid restrictions.

Stokes, with head coach Brendon McCullum, breathed life into the team and captured the imagination of the public.

At its best, Bazball challenged perceptions of how Test cricket could be played. The cricket was exhilarating, the atmosphere intoxicating and results - for a short while - sensational.

Stokes the skipper never got his Ashes moment. It could have been in 2023, but his team were too carefree until it was too late. A win down under last winter would have been the crowning glory of Stokes' career, only for the tour to fall apart on his watch.

It was the aftermath of that trip that set the wheels in motion for Stokes' departure.

His career was not supposed to end with a series defeat by New Zealand at Trent Bridge. It was supposed to be a fairytale reclaiming of the urn at The Oval next summer. Instead, what happened in Australia denied Stokes another crack at the Australians.

Stokes was thinking about ending his career before the fateful drinking session in a London nightclub - feelings had already grown during the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's.

The events in the Rex Rooms, controversy and fallout, culminating with Stokes' sudden retirement, announced in the middle of a bowling spell, have led to claims, conspiracies and conjecture.

Perhaps, at the end of it all, things that were said should have been taken at face value.

Neither McCullum nor director of cricket Rob Key were able to back Stokes as captain because they knew how close he was to the end, and McCullum said he was worried about Stokes because he was genuinely worried about Stokes.

Those at Durham saw nothing to be concerned about, because Stokes was happy there - he's since told us as much. When he returned to captain England at Trent Bridge and said it was for "this week", he meant it.

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Figure caption,

'This is remarkable' - Stokes gets guard of honour as he opens batting

So, a decision Stokes finalised when he was putting on his pads on Saturday leaves England staring at a future they would have hoped to have delayed for much longer.

Who becomes the new captain? Stokes said he "100%" backs Harry Brook, whose challenge is to prove himself to be mature enough to lead the Test team.

What about the balance of the XI, knocked so badly out of kilter when Stokes missed the second Test at The Oval?

Are there any candidates to come in as the all-rounder? Maybe Rehan Ahmed or Sam Curran, at a push. At The Oval, England played an extra batter, cutting their attack and omitting spinner Shoaib Bashir - have his short-term prospects just taken a hit?

More broadly, Stokes' departure means England have lost another world-class player, continuing a three-year procession through the exit door.

Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali have all retired. Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood will probably never play Test cricket again. Joe Root is the only active England Test player to know what it is like to win an Ashes series, the sole survivor of the school of former coach Andy Flower.

As for the suggestion that Stokes' retirement could be temporary, that he could be coaxed back for a last crack at the Aussies next summer, he was having none of it.

"I'll be in a hospitality box somewhere," said Stokes. He will probably do that at full throttle, too.

It leaves the rest of us to ponder what might become of this England team.

Who will bowl the spells? Who will hit the sixes? Who will take the catches? Who will bring the derring-do? Who is the patron saint of lost causes? Who will be there when everything seems lost?

Ben Stokes is gone, and so are the moments.