Stokes, speaking before Sunday’s play, had told his England team-mates of his impending exit but said the “reasons can wait”. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Ben Stokes’s shock decision to announce his international retirement in the middle of a Test match left former England skipper Michael Atherton asking, “why and why now?”.

England captain Stokes announced he would be bringing down the curtain on his stellar international career at the end of the ongoing third Test against New Zealand while the match was still in progress, with news of his bombshell exit made public shortly before tea on Sunday’s fourth day at Trent Bridge.

There was yet more drama in a three-match series locked at 1-1 when all-rounder Stokes, normally a middle-order batsman, came out to open the innings as England set off in pursuit of a victory target of 373.

He made a quickfire 30 off 20 balls before slogging to mid-on, with England’s 50-1 becoming 50-2 when Jacob Bethell was lbw for nought four balls later.

Stokes, speaking before Sunday’s play, had told his England team-mates of his impending exit but said the “reasons can wait”.

Sunday’s bombshell announcement came after Stokes returned to England duty at Trent Bridge following the fall-out from a London nightclub incident also involving teammate Gus Atkinson earlier this month.

The pair were omitted from a 253-run defeat in the second Test at the Oval for breaking a midnight curfew while celebrating England’s win in the first Test.

Stokes was later handed a written conduct warning but escaped any further disciplinary action and returned to lead the side at Trent Bridge.

“It’s an extraordinary moment, a stunning moment, and it begs a number of questions, why and why now?,” said Atherton, commentating for Sky Sports, of the timing of Stokes’s retirement announcement.

“In the middle of a day’s cricket with still a day to go with a match to win, draw or lose and a series on the line.

“But I think there have been some signs there throughout this series, both at Lord’s initially when he looked like a man who had been leading England for four years.

“He missed the Oval for disciplinary reasons, back for this Test match and he has decided that enough is enough.”

Meanwhile Michael Vaughan, England’s Ashes 2005-winning skipper, told the BBC: “Clearly something has triggered in his mind.

“You look at his contract that he’s got until next year - there’s a home Ashes series next year.

“There were so many rumours about fallouts but I do hope that wasn’t the case, I hope that he just woke up one morning and said he’d had enough. He’s given it everything for such a long period of time.”

Published on Jun 28, 2026