He swept Nathan Smith for six on an acid-trip of an afternoon, his last on the field as a Test cricketer. He nearly shredded Will O’Rourke’s fingers with a straight drive and swung his way to 30 as an agent of chaos. But was it ever going to last much longer?
In his finest moments, Ben Stokes would grind before the burst, scoring two off his first 66 balls at Headingley in 2019 before tub-thumping to an unbeaten 135. Holding on for a half-century in the World Cup final that same summer before a last, desperate release of power, 34 coming off his next 17 balls at Lord’s. He could make batting look harder than anything else and then, only then, would he play the shot of a lifetime.
The old magic with the bat has not been there for a while, making for a strange finish. This 35‑year‑old all-rounder – a fast bowler with a history of knee and hamstring troubles – ends with bowling as his stronger suit. Even before the wicket that coincided with the announcement of his retirement on Sunday afternoon against New Zealand, there was the eight‑over spell on Friday in unhealthy heat on a flat one, mixing up tight lines with a sharp bumper, taking three wickets to bring England back into the game.
His last year at the top included five‑wicket hauls against India and Australia, with 34 Test wickets at 25. On the other side, his only real joy was a 14th and final hundred on an Old Trafford pitch with no juice and he failed to break free in the Ashes, finishing the series with a strike rate of 37.
Stokes’s final knock was as an opener, but he departs as a No 7, having dropped down a spot at the start of the New Zealand series. Stokes explained at the time that it was a way to get the best out of England’s keeper-batter, Jamie Smith, but also said: “I’m 35 tomorrow, getting towards it. Jamie’s going to be playing a lot longer than me.” We probably should have taken the hint.
The enduring images will be with the blade. Beyond the obvious ones, a personal favourite is his first Test hundred on a cracked-open Waca pitch as a 22-year-old, pulling hard against Mitchell Johnson in an otherwise dreadful tour of Australia in the 2013/14 Ashes.
Like any up-and-comer, there was an adjustment period. His defence needed some work, he had some time as a No 8 and after 20 Tests the averages were the wrong way round: more than 40 with the ball and under 30 with the bat. In the middle of all that, there was still room for Ashes six-fers at Trent Bridge and Sydney, Stokes getting the ball to hoop away from the left‑handers, a reminder that he had skill to go with heart.
If we want to find his prime, where it all clicked, it is quite clearly that 2019-20 period, when he developed the miracle‑man aura. Player of the series against Australia at home and then South Africa away, Stokes averaged more than 50 with the bat and less than 30 with the ball in Tests over a two-year stretch.
During his captaincy there was greater focus on his role as the conductor leading a grand experiment and it seemed as if he was going to fade away as a bowler, his body suffering from wear and tear. He did not bowl for seven consecutive Tests in 2023 and 2024. Nonetheless, courtesy of his late burst after undergoing hamstring surgery, he finishes above Bob Willis with the most Test wickets as England captain.
Maybe we are overdoing it with the numbers, even if Jacques Kallis is the only other man with more than 250 wickets and 7,000 runs in Tests. The spectacle was key – even if it was, at times, unnecessary. Did he really need to be a pinch-hitting opener in his final chase? He was thoroughly watchable when he suffered, too, making it clear on the stump mic where he had been hit when the ball thudded into his box. In or out of nick, he brought the thrills.
Stokes was less integral as a bowler to England in the shorter forms – it went badly at the death against West Indies in 2016 – and while he settled in at No 5 for Eoin Morgan’s 50-over team, he scrambled around for the right role in the 20-over side. Fortunately for England, he managed to save his one and only T20 international half-century for a World Cup final in Melbourne, picked in that 2022 squad as their specialist superhero.
Stokes has not played white-ball cricket for the past two years, devoting himself entirely to the long form. With his single‑minded focus, he has burnt himself out. He says he will keep playing for Durham, thus reinventing himself as a man on the county grind, unable to let go just yet even if his time on the main stage is over. Even in retirement, he continues to surprise.