The end was anything but perfect Ben Stokes as England lost the third and final Test against New Zealand in Nottingham by 160 runs on Monday to also concede the series 1-2.
Stokes, opening in his final innings, had departed on the fourth evening of the Test itself, but the other England players too couldn’t come up with much resistance as England folded for 212, after resuming on 103/4. Only keeper-batter Jamie Smith (60) could put some up resistance.
Irrespective of the result, the cynosure was Stokes, who made a comeback in the Nottingham Test after being dropped for the previous one, owing to the involvement of his and pacer Gus Atkinson’s involvement at a London nightclub incident following England’s victory at Lord’s. And then, on the penultimate day of the final Test, Stokes announced the game would be his last in international cricket.
“I hope it (decision to retire) can be respected that the most important person to make the decision is myself,” he said late on Monday. “I spoke to a number of people I trust, tried to get myself through (the series), but it wasn’t meant to be.
“I look back at the way the last two weeks have unfolded, and it has been interesting. Something pretty simple ended up being a bit complicated. I can look back and have a laugh. There was a bit of controversy around my last game, but I’ll look back fondly,” Stokes elaborated.
As for his successor, Stokes gave “100 per cent support” to England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook, who has served as his deputy in Tests. But will Brook be ready for the workload of an all-format captain?
Brief scores: New Zealand 438 & 288/9 dec. England 354 & 212 (Jamie Smith 60; Zak Foulkes 3/52). New Zealand won by 160 runs.