3 min readUpdated: Jun 28, 2026 09:43 PM IST
England captain Ben Stokes will retire from international cricket after the third Test against New Zealand, the England team announced on Sunday. The shock announcement was made mid-way through the fourth day 4 of the ongoing Test at Trent Bridge.
According to a report by BBC, Stokes was actually in the middle of a bowling spell when a statement on his behalf was released. And right after the announcement, with his first delivery, Stokes picked up the wicket of Zak Foulkes (caught at second slip by vice captain Harry Brook, who could replace Stokes at the helm).
WATCH: Emotional Stokes breaks news of retirement to England teammates
On its social media handles, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) posted a clip of an emotional Stokes breaking the news of his impending retirement to his England teammates in a speech.
One of England’s all-time greatest captains, Ben Stokes, has decided to retire from international cricket at the end of this Test match.
Ben, you have been the most inspirational captain, leader and legend this team could have ever hoped for.
We love you so much and wish you… pic.twitter.com/U5grq0F0kj
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 28, 2026
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What Ben Stokes told England team in emotional dressing room speech
There’s something that I know is going to happen over the next two days: these are my last two days as your captain and my last two days representing England.
The reasons can wait, why, but I’ve had many trips to the well before for this team, for you blokes, for people beforehand and I’ve got one more trip to do. The only thing that I ask, please, is can everyone do the same.
We’ve got a lot of hard work to do and the only thing I want is to be able to walk off that field, regardless of the result, knowing that I’ve had this group of men give everything for the last two days. That’s the only thing I want, for everyone to give it not only for me, selfishly, but also for this team.
All the taps on the a**, all the emotion, please can all that stuff just wait for the end of this game because we’ve still got a s***load more work to do. And I’ve got a s***load more work to do. Let’s just go out there and f***ing give everything for another two days. That’s my only intention and that’s where my energy is right now.
I’ve got the emotional side out of it. Now it’s time to go to work. Please, everyone else come with me.
Retirement means Stokes will pull curtains on a 15-year international career that peaked when he starred for England in its win over New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup final in 2019. In his career, Stokes played 122 Tests for England. Of these, 44 of which were as captain of the national side. Stokes also played 114 one-day internationals and 43 T20Is. this includes the role he played in the T20 2022 World Cup final.
He also was a key player in England T20 World Cup-winning team in 2022, the same year he became Test captain.
Stokes was dropped from the second Test of the current series for disciplinary reasons after a night out after the first Test. The England captain and pacer Gus Atkinson had broken a midnight curfew and were embroiled in an incident at a London nightclub, following England’s series-opening win at Lord’s.
With Stokes dropped for the second Test, the England side led by Joe Root suffered a 253-run thrashing at The Oval, as New Zealand levelled the series at 1-1 heading into the Nottingham finale at Trent Bridge.
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Stokes said that he had apologised to his teammates for the incident.
“That (apologising) was one of the first things I had to do as a captain. You look at a situation and it obviously affects more than just myself. It affects a lot of people, Joe Root, the squad, people outside of the playing environment. It no doubt had an effect on people making their debuts. That should have been all about them, but unfortunately a situation outside of their control took precedent over their big days. It would be stupid and naive of me not to acknowledge and address that.”