Stokes to quit international cricket

Ben Stokes waves to the crowd in Nottingham on Sunday. Pic/AFP

England captain Ben Stokes announced his shock retirement from international cricket on Sunday in the middle of a Test match.

The 35-year-old all-rounder confirmed his exit shortly before tea on the fourth day of the ongoing third and decisive Test against New Zealand here, having informed his teammates in the dressing room before the start of Sunday's play.

Stokes was in the middle of a lengthy bowling spell, with news filtering into a stunned crowd as he was about to start his 11th over.

He then received a standing ovation from spectators at Trent Bridge.

And in a moment of pure sporting theatre, Stokes had Zak Foulkes caught at slip with his next ball to spark yet more raucous cheers.

Sunday's bombshell announcement came after Stokes returned to England duty at Trent Bridge following the fall-out from a London nightclub incident also involving teammate Gus Atkinson earlier this month.

The pair were omitted from a 253-run defeat in the second Test at the Oval - which levelled this three-match series at 1-1 - for breaking a midnight curfew while celebrating England's win in the first Test.

Stokes was later handed a written conduct warning but escaped any further disciplinary action and returned to lead the side at Trent Bridge.

Telling his teammates his celebrated England career would soon end, Stokes said in a clip shared by the ECB: "There's something that I know is going to happen over the next two days, which is my last two days as your captain and my last two days representing England."

279
No. of international matches played by Ben Stokes (122 Tests, 114 ODIs, and 43 T20Is)

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