Days after retirement, Ben Stokes reaches out to ‘family, friends, team-mates, fans’ in an emotional and funny message

The former England captain and two-time World Cup winner stunned the cricket world earlier this week with a sudden retirement announcement.

Just days after announcing his international retirement for England, Ben Stokes has addressed his family, friends, team-mates and fans, and shown his gratitude for their support over the years. Stokes made his white-ball debut in 2011 before earning his Test cap in 2013. During his time in international cricket, he was widely considered the best all-rounder in the world.

Ben Stokes has been a fan favourite in England for so many years. (Action Images via Reuters)

He featured in 279 international matches across formats and scored more than 11,000 runs for the English team. There was also an impressive haul of more than 350 wickets. He was a pivotal figure in England's World Cup wins in 2019 (50 overs) and 2022 (20 overs). Earlier this week, in a surprise announcement, the 35-year-old, right in the middle of the third Test against New Zealand, said that after the game he wasn’t going to continue in international cricket. The news took the whole cricket world by storm. Now Stokes has taken to X to post an emotional message that is heart-touching and funny at once.

Stokes wrote: “It’s been a mad 15 years. It’s had everything thrown in there, from the highest highs to the lowest lows, on and off the field [winking face with tongue emoji]. My time was up, and no one was going to be able to make that decision other than me. But in the meantime, I just want to say I love every single England fan and every single cricket fan who’s supported me over the years.

“I love every single person I’ve walked out onto the field with representing England. I could go on and on, but I hope you get the gist of how much I loved doing what I did for 15 years.

“I’m looking forward to being a fan and supporting the team, and the odd day in hospitality won’t go amiss [rolling on the floor laughing emoji. Family, friends, teammates, fans… I love you all.”

At the bottom of the message, he signed off “Stokesy.”

The bar brawl and the retirement

The allrounder went through a really bad phase in the lead-up to his retirement. After leading England to a nice win against the Kiwis in the first Test at Lord’s early last month, Stokes found himself stuck in a massive controversy. On the night of the win, he, in the company of fellow England player Gus Atkinson, hit a bar for a few drinks and shortly after got into a brawl, which didn’t take long to make international headlines.

Both players were then dropped from the second Test. However, after an investigation, they were given a clean chit and were brought back for the third and final Test of the series, in the middle of which Stokes stunned the world with his retirement announcement. It wasn't on a high as he would have expected as the New Zealanders won the match and the series 2-1.