&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Ashes 2027: Australia coach Andrew McDonald sees 'fairytale' Ben Stokes comeback")
Ben Stokes retired from international cricket following the last Test against New Zealand this summer. But the Australian head coach Andrew McDonald feels it would be a ‘fairytale’ for him to come out of retirement for the home Ashes next year. After the London nightclub incident that put Stokes and Gus Atkinson in a bad light, his relationship with the ECB broke, leading to his shock retirement from international cricket. McDonald, however, feels that, with the next Ashes less than a year away, Stokes could come back for his final hurrah in the whites.
"I think the fairytale would be that he comes back out of retirement and takes on one more Ashes, and builds a lot of hype on the way in," Australia's coach said in a chat with the radio station SEN on Wednesday (July 29). "If you're looking at promoting that series, that's probably the angle that you would want, that he comes out of retirement."
Stokes led England to a 115-run win over New Zealand in the series-opener at Lord’s, after which he and Atkinson went out partying in Chelsea. A brawl unfolded, leading to the ECB and the Cricket Regulator suspending the two involved ahead of the second Test, which England lost dearly, conceding the lead. While the two were asked to represent their respective County sides in the Championship, Joe Root led the Test team in Stokes’ absence.
Following a detailed investigation into the matter, the two were let go with formal warnings and returned to the Test squad for the third and deciding Test at Trent Bridge. Midway through the fourth day of the final match, the ECB publicly announced Stokes’ shocking decision to relinquish the Test captaincy and hang up his boots from international cricket.
Stokes enjoyed his last outing in the whites, having opened with Ben Duckett in England’s final innings of the match. He got out on a quickfire 30 late on day four as England lost the final Test on the fifth day to lose the home series 2-1.
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McDonald feels Stokes, 35, has plenty of cricket left in him, and hopes that the new coach holds that conversation with Stokes over a potential comeback to the Test side for the final home Ashes.
"To me, he's still got a lot of good cricket left in him," McDonald opined. "It'll be a fascinating watch. I think that whoever the new head coach that comes in potentially has a conversation with him. We don't know why Ben left; I don't think there's been anything on the record around the definitive reason as to why. He may have just called it a day on Test cricket, and that's it, so there might be a full stop there."
