Ben Stokes: England captain says retiring from international cricket is 'the best thing' for him

Ben Stokes said 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 direct 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 said 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 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 just burned myself out."

However, Stokes did confirm the nightclub controversy "added" to thoughts of calling time.

"There was a build-up to it, how things were during the whole week at Lord's and then another moment when I sat next to Joe Root in the dressing room," he said.

"Obviously another scenario happened that added to it. It's never easy with me, is it? It was an unfortunate situation to be involved in over the past two weeks."

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."

Stokes has had to battle a number of severe injuries across his career, including a left-knee problem that restricted his bowling in 2023 and 2024.

Later in 2024 he suffered two hamstring injuries, followed by a shoulder problem in the summer of 2025.

He ended the Ashes with an adductor problem, then suffered a horrific broken cheek when struck by a ball while coaching the Durham academy.

In 2021, Stokes also took a break from the game to prioritise his mental health.

"Everyone says that moment [when you decide to retire] kicks you straight in the face and I thought it did a few weeks ago," said Stokes.

"I guess you go through the whole process of speaking to people close to you, and the more you speak, the more spills out.

"It's brutal what we do, physically and mentally. It's all getting a bit tiring these days, at 35 I feel like I have got to do so much physical work to keep doing what I'm doing out there."

Stokes's retirement was made public at 15:25 BST, while he was on the field and in the middle of a bowling spell.

In keeping with a career full of memorable moments, Stokes took a wicket with the first he bowled after the announcement, sending Trent Bridge into raptures.

In recounting his favourite times as an England player, he mentioned the 2015 Ashes, when he took a stunning catch off the bowling of Stuart Broad at Trent Bridge to help win the urn for the only time in his career.

Stokes was also instrumental in England winning the 50-over World Cup in 2019, a performance he followed six weeks later with one of the all-time great knocks by an England batter to defeat Australia at Headingley.

He also played a crucial hand in the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup, when England defeated Pakistan in Melbourne.

"I'm pretty happy and content with everything I've managed to do," he said.

"I'm an Ashes winner, I've won a 50-over World Cup, a T20 World Cup.

"I've also had the opportunity to captain the team and play alongside some of the best players to have played the game. There's not too much I can complain about, really."