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STAR SPORTS DESK

Ben Stokes was cricket’s ultimate clutch performer, a rare breed of all-rounder who treated a crumbling fifth-day minefield or a lost-cause run chase not as a crisis, but as his rightful stage. From standing tall against peak Mitchell Johnson at a cracked WACA to engineering modern white-ball miracles, Stokes played with a raw grit that redefined English

cricket’s resilience. As a leader, he tore up the traditional Test playbook, injecting an infectious, fearless belief that transformed a conservative sport. He was a titanic character who led from the front, leaving the game transformed, and entirely on his own terms.

STOKES’ CAREER THROUGH

THE YEARS

2013 – Perth breakthrough: Stokes’ 2013-14 Ashes century in Perth was a rare highlight on a tour to forget, showcasing his pugnacity.

2016 – Cape Town masterpiece: Stokes’ 258 in Cape Town in 2016 was historic – the second-fastest of all time – and underlined his brutal hitting power. It remains his highest Test score.

2016 – T20 World Cup final heartbreak: He was handed the ball for the last over of the 2016 T20 World Cup final, with the West Indies needing 19 runs to win from 6 balls. Stokes’ first four balls were hit for sixes as the West Indies won the championship.

2017 – The Bristol Nightclub incident: In September 2017 Stokes was arrested after a street brawl outside a nightclub in Bristol and charged with affray. He was dropped from the squad for the 2017-18 Australia tour, a series in which he had been expected to play a key role, and removed as England’s vice captain.

2019 – World Cup glory: His unbeaten 84 in the 2019 ICC World Cup Final helped take the match against New Zealand to a Super Over in which England triumphed, with Stokes winning the Man of the Match award.

2019 – Headingley miracle: Weeks later his sensational 135 not out at Headingley dragged England from the brink of defeat to victory in the third Ashes Test in one of the team’s greatest wins.

2020-21 – Personal tragedy and mental health struggles: In June 2021 Stokes announced an indefinite break from cricket to focus on his ‘mental wellbeing’. He later stated that the combination of feeling let down over the ECB’s handling of the Bristol nightclub incident, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the death of his father Ged Stokes had led him to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks.

2022 – Test captaincy and “Bazball”: Stokes, long-time deputy to Joe Root, was appointed as his successor. Alongside new coach Brendon McCullum, he ushered in a new era of hyper-aggressive red-ball cricket, dubbed “Bazball” by the press.

2024 – Fastest Test fifty by an Englishman: Opening the batting in the second innings of the 3rd test against the West Indies at Edgbaston on 28 July, Stokes scored the fastest test half-century by an English player, reaching his 50 off just 24 balls, surpassing Ian Botham’s record set in 1981 by four deliveries.

Stokes retires as the most explosive baseline hitter in the history of long-form cricket, holding the all-time world record for the most sixes in Test history (138), having famously broken the previous record held by his own coach, Brendon McCullum.

He finishes with 7,273 Test runs and 252 wickets, cementing his spot as only the second player in history to hit the 7,000-run / 250-wicket double alongside Jacques Kallis.

In a historic innings against South Africa in 2016, Stokes shattered three world records simultaneously: he smashed the highest Test score by a number six batsman (258), blasted the fastest 250 in Test history (off 196 balls), and anchored the highest sixth-wicket partnership ever recorded (399 runs) with Jonny Bairstow.