Bigger than Botham? English cricket 'less interesting' as Stokes bows out

Ben Stokes: England's 'serious entertainer' bows out as cricket becomes 'less interesting' and 'far worse' Word 'Stokes-esque' to enter common vocabulary as England's Ben Stokes retires from international cricket after over a decade of remarkable feats with bat, ball and in the field; Stokes may not have won a Test series against Australia or India as skipper but will go down as super captain Monday 29 June 2026 15:11, UK He was never going to go quietly, was he? We saw a sedate retirement from an international cricket legend earlier this month when New Zealand's Kane Williamson called it quits while everyone else was focused on the chaos that had engulfed England following a kerfuffle at a nightclub. Williamson is a great of the game but a reluctant star. Stokes is a great of the game and always the star. With bat, ball and in the field. On the park and off it. In good times and bad. So, it was no surprise that his England exit announcement came with fireworks - England captain Ben Stokes retires from international cricket - Listen to our pundits on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast - Stream England cricket and more without a contract on NOW A fairly sleepy Sunday up to that point, as New Zealand batter - and battler - Daryl Mitchell dealt with blow after blow to the body en route to a nuggety hundred at Trent Bridge, was ignited at 3.25pm when news of Stokes' shock retirement filtered through. Stokes has made a number of bold declarations as captain - some will never forgive his call to cull England's first innings on day one of the 2023 Ashes - but this bombshell topped the lot. Seconds later, with his first ball since his impending exit had been disclosed, and amid a lung-busting 11-over spell, Stokes took a wicket, forcing Zak Foulkes to snick to second slip where Harry Brook, a possible successor as captain, snaffled the catch. Cue pandemonium and a standing ovation from the crowd. A fresh chapter added to the book of Stokes' 'I was there' moments, a tome now longer than James Joyce's Ulysses. 'Stokes made you feel impossible was possible' 'Botham-esque' is how the wicket was described by Jonathan Agnew on Test Match Special and Stokes is to this generation of cricket fans what Sir Ian Botham was to those back in the day: a box-office player who pens his own scripts, always finds himself in the limelight, and constantly makes you believe that impossible feats are possible. The feat of chasing 373 proved beyond England in Nottingham but not before Stokes gave his side a smidgeon of hope with a cavalier 30 from 20 balls after promoting himself to opener, providing the start of the chase with some real main-character energy. As one of Stokes' predecessors as captain, Sir Andrew Strauss, said, English cricket will be "far worse" and "less interesting" now that the talismanic all-rounder, dubbed a "serious entertainer" by Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain, has stepped aside. Just think where England would have been without him over the last decade. They may not have won the 50-over World Cup final in 2019, when his unbeaten 84 helped the side tie New Zealand's total of 241 at Lord's before victory on boundary countback following a Super Over. They may not have won the T20 World Cup final in 2022, when his unbeaten 52 helped his side trump Pakistan's total of 138 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after they had been 45-3. And they certainly would not have won the 2019 Ashes Test at Headingley when his calculated, logic-defying 135 not out - which followed a sapping bowling spell earlier in the game - secured a one-wicket triumph against all the odds. It was arguably the greatest Test innings ever played, hit two years after Stokes' career looked in grave jeopardy having been charged with affray - he was later acquitted - following an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in 2017. The fact he fought back from it, and enjoyed the 'Summer of Stokes' in 2019, just adds to his lore. Stokes - the superhuman with a human side He is a great to whom you can relate. Someone who has been through tough times, including a mental health break in 2021 following the death of his father Ged; the recent nightclub drama after an ill-advised outing to the Rex Rooms; and a horrid blow to the face he took while training with Durham this winter. There is a humanity to Stokes that is often at odds with the superhuman figure he can seem on the field while steaming in for over after over, taking crucial wickets, completing famous chases and pulling off astounding catches such as the "you cannot do that, Ben Stokes" grab versus South Africa in the 2019 World Cup. Like Botham, he is a player you cannot take your eyes off, who drags you along for the ride, and that extended into his captaincy as he helped transform the red-ball side. It would have been easy, perhaps even advisable, to take your eyes off the Test team before Stokes and Brendon McCullum began the Bazball era. It had become joyless. One win in 17 Tests, a disaster of an Ashes series that ended in a 4-0 whipping while stuck in oppressive Covid bubbles, a turned-down chase of 273 against New Zealand at Lord's in June 2021 despite no World Test Championship points being at stake. But Bazball changed all that, at least initially, as run rates skyrocketed; epic targets were not just reached but obliterated; numerous batters threatened to shatter Gilbert Jessop's England-record 76-ball Test century, and the wins racked up. That sizzling, hedonistic approach to Test cricket - instigated by Stokes from the off as he frequently motored down the pitch to demonstrate the no-fear attitude he demanded from his side - was unlikely to be sustainable and so it proved. 'Stokes-esque' to enter common vocabulary as all-rounder quits Results tailed off as the approach was found out and the fact Stokes was unable to engineer a marquee series win over India or Australia - rain cost them in the 2023 Ashes but so did brainless batting beforehand - will be a blot on his copybook. Yet, he will still be remembered as one of the best captains England have produced. For championing the red-ball game, for making it intoxicating viewing, for results like masterminding a 3-0 sweep in Pakistan on some of the flattest pitches imaginable and for the emotional intelligence that helped players such as Shoaib Bashir, Ollie Pope, Jack Leach, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett produce moments of magic, however fleeting some of them have been. The end of Stokes' captaincy has coincided with - or is partly because of - a dwindling in his batting form, but the frustration for England fans, in addition to the feeling that a fallout with the ECB has accelerated his departure, is that he is bowling better than ever. It may not be too challenging to replace his runs, although it will be to replace his runs at the most crucial of points, and it will be nigh on impossible to replace his leadership, aura, love of the big occasion and the sheer adoration he receives from supporters - all of which have been evident over a chaotic three weeks. For years, the word Botham-esque has been used to describe game-changing antics from an England player. Possibly the biggest compliment Stokes can be paid is that for years to come the word Stokes-esque will be used as well, if not instead. He may even have usurped Beefy as England's greatest all-rounder. [Image text:] ENGLAND Melbrurne, 2022 Ferdingley, 2019 Loid's, 2019 sky sports