Ben Stokes says retiring from international cricket is the "best thing" for him after he revealed England's final Test against New Zealand will be his last.

The 35-year-old, one of the greatest cricketers to ever play for England, made the stunning announcement on the fourth day of the deciding Test at Trent Bridge.

It means his international career will end on Monday after 15 years, 122 Tests, 114 one-day internationals and 43 T20s.

"It might sound quite selfish but this decision is genuinely the best thing for me right now," Stokes told Sky Sports.

"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."

The all-rounder denied the decision was made as a result of events in the past three weeks, when he was made unavailable for England's second Test against New Zealand following an incident in a London nightclub.

Instead, he had been considering ending his career since England's 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia, and had further thoughts of retiring during the first Test of the summer at Lord's.

"The Lord's Test, for me, was something that brought back some kind of negative feelings about where I was in my career," he said.

"I'd worked so hard since getting home [from 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 burned myself out."

When Stokes was away from the England team for the second Test, he played for Durham and said returning to his county rekindled a love for the game. He confirmed he will continue to play domestic cricket.

"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," said Stokes.

"I'm very excited about the next part of what I get to do. Going back to playing for my boyhood club Durham, I'm comparing this week to that week - right now I am buzzing, but there have been moments this week that have been really tough and it just adds to everything and it makes it clear that I've made the right decision."

Stokes said he made the retirement decision when he was putting on his pads to prepare to bat in England's first innings at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

He told former captain Joe Root and vice-captain Harry Brook on Saturday evening, then revealed the news to the rest of the team on Sunday morning.

"It's been an interesting four or five weeks, maybe six months in general," added Stokes. "There are all kinds of emotions when this day comes - relief, happiness, excitement, sadness. Everything that you go through.

"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."