‘Proud of what I did’: Ben Stokes reflects on decorated England career after shock retirement
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Proud of what I did’: Ben Stokes reflects on decorated England career after shock retirement")
‘Proud of what I did’ Stokes’ final interview after shock England retirement Photograph: (Others)
"Proud of what I did" — Read Ben Stokes’ emotional final interview as England captain following his shock international retirement and the Test series finale at Trent Bridge.
England Test captain Ben Stokes has retired from international cricket and no longer holds the top spot in the dressing room. Yet, he feels plenty of emotions and is proud of what he did as an English cricketer in his decorated 15-year-career. Moments after New Zealand crushed England in the third and decisive Test at Trent Bridge (by 160 runs) to win the series (2-1), Stokes gave his final interview in the Test jersey, a format in which his influence peaked and he made countless memories.
"It's been a nice couple of days in terms of all that. Would have been great to have ended differently with a result; incredibly hard-fought game by both teams. Credit to New Zealand and the way they operate, especially Daryl (Mitchell) and Rachin (Ravindra). It was always going to be difficult to chase down that total. Only thing I would change is being on the right side, but you can't have everything your way,” Stokes said of the match result.
Detailing his decision to retire just out of nowhere and in the middle of a Test match, Stokes said he explained most of it to his teammates during the private chatter ahead of the fourth day's play. The England captain added that he did speak with a few close people about this decision, later revealing it to his close group within the team the night before announcing it to the world.
“I explained that in as much detail as I could yesterday. I hope it can be respected that the most important person to make the decision is myself. I spoke to a number of people I trust, tried to get myself through [the series], but it wasn't meant to be,” he added.
Stokes also expressed contentment with finishing his career on a high, but admitted feeling sad about leaving plenty behind.
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“Happy with everything I did in my career. It is sad, some things I will miss. A lot of emotion, but I'm proud of what I did and grateful to the fans who follow us around and show their support,” Stokes said.
Lucky to play with Root, Cook and Anderson
Having shared the English dressing room with perhaps some of the best players of all time, let alone England, including the famous pace duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad and his former team captains, Joe Root and Alastair Cook, Stokes admitted to remaining in awe.
“Look back at some things been involved in, being able to say I've played with the best players England have produced. I know I've done some decent things on the field, but I'm lucky I've seen Joe Root, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Alastair Cook. Not only have I been involved as a proud Englishman, but also with some of the greats of the game,” he concluded.
