England captain Ben Stokes announces Test retirement, shocks cricket world

England captain Ben Stokes announced on Sunday that he will retire from international cricket after the ongoing third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, ending a career that spanned 15 years.The announcement came when Stokes was in the middle of a bowling spell. England Cricket released a statement confirming that the 35-year-old will retire from international cricket after the Test.Stokes missed England’s second Test after being involved in an incident at a London nightclub. He only mentioned that he would captain the team “this week” before returning to manage the team in Nottingham.He informed his England teammates of his decision before the start of the fourth day of the crucial Test against New Zealand.In the dressing room, an emotional Stokes said: “The reasons can wait why, but I’ve had many trips to the well before for this team, for you guys, for the people, and I’ve got one more trip to go.”“All I ask is that everyone can do the same.“There’s a lot of hard work ahead of us and all I want is to be able to walk off that field, regardless of the result, knowing that I’ve given everything from this group over the last two days.”“That’s the only thing I want everyone to do not only for me, selfishly, but also for this team.“I have an emotional side to it. Now it’s time to go to work. Please, everyone else come with me.”For Stokes, the decision brings to a close a 15-year international career that has included some of England cricket’s most memorable moments.In the summer of 2019, he played one of the defining innings of his career, scoring 84 as England won the ODI World Cup for the first time, defeating New Zealand in a final widely regarded as one of the greatest matches in cricket history.Just six weeks later, Stokes produced another innings that has become part of Ashes folklore. His unbeaten 135 at Headingley guided England to a remarkable one-wicket win over Australia and kept the series alive almost single-handedly.