'It Was 2027 Ashes...': Ben Stokes Drops Bombshell Behind His Shock Retirement, Reveals Future Plan With ECB

Former England captain Ben Stokes has opened up about his decision to retire from Test cricket, saying he realised he could no longer keep pushing his body towards another Ashes series.

The 35-year-old stunned the cricket world in June when he announced his retirement from the longest format during the final Test against New Zealand.

That series had already been difficult for Stokes. He and teammate Gus Atkinson missed the second Test after being dropped for breaking the team’s curfew following England’s victory at Lord’s.

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The incident came after a night out in London, where a disagreement in the VIP section of the Rex Rooms nightclub led to an altercation involving a member of the ECB’s security staff and Saracens academy player Totoa Auvaa.

Stokes returned to play the third Test, but he has now revealed that retirement had been on his mind for some time.

Why Ben Stokes retired from Tests?

Speaking on the Love of Cricket podcast, Stokes said the decision was not made overnight.

“There’s a lot to it that I think is just not for today or for the near future.”

He explained that he had been looking ahead to the 2027 Ashes in Australia but began questioning whether he could physically make it that far.

“I look at planning ahead and I was going ‘We’ve got the Ashes in 2027’ and I think you know I spoke to (wife) Clare a lot about this even before I took the decision.”

“You always plan your retirement, right? And it was 2027 Ashes, whatever happens there you’re going ‘Not sure I go past that’.”

“And then over time sort of I was (thinking) ‘How am I going to get there? How am I going to get to Australia 2027 with everything, with how everything is feeling at the moment?’”

Stokes admitted that his immediate concern became getting through the New Zealand series rather than thinking years ahead.

“Playing for Durham I’m going ‘How am I even going to get to end the New Zealand series?’ I’m worrying about how I’m going to get there and thinking that Australia is going to be my last one.”

Although his Test career has ended, Stokes has no plans to walk away from cricket completely. He is currently representing Durham in the One-Day Cup and is reportedly in talks with the Sydney Sixers over a possible Big Bash League deal later this year.

Stokes wants to move into coaching

Looking further into the future, Stokes said he wants to move into coaching once his playing career is over. He is already working towards his Level Three coaching qualification to prepare for that next chapter.

“I’m doing my Level Three coaching now while I’m still playing because I want when the day comes that I’m not playing anymore.”

“I’d love to be able to have all that stuff signed off and done. So then I’ve got that option if I want to go into it or I want to be, I have a couple years off and just do whatever I want to do.”