Ben Stokes shocked the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from international cricket on Sunday during the third Test against New Zealand.

The England cricketer was in the middle of a bowling spell at Trent Bridge in Nottingham when his intention to end a 15-year international career was announced. However, the shockwaves he had just unleashed didn’t seem to faze him, as he took a wicket with his first delivery after the news, getting Zak Foulkes caught at second slip.

Ben Stokes Calls Time On Truly Illustrious Career

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Stokes was born in New Zealand, but has captained England’s Test team since April 2022. It’s not just in the five-day format where he’s tasted success, though, winning the T20 World Cup by five wickets and top-scoring in the final versus Pakistan in the same year. This was only the country’s second T20 World Cup title, drawing them level with the West Indies. In achieving this win, England became the first team to simultaneously hold the Cricket World Cup trophy and the T20 World Cup trophy.

Stokes is regarded as one of England’s greatest all-rounders, and in 2024, he scored the fastest Test half-century by an England player, reaching his 50 off just 24 balls, beating Ian Botham’s 1981 record by four deliveries. His incredible 84 in 2019 against New Zealand guided England to their first World Cup title, in a game which has been lauded as ‘the greatest game of cricket ever played.’

However, his side wouldn’t be so lucky in their most recent match-up with the Black Caps, as they were demolished by 160 runs to confirm a 2-1 series defeat, a devastating conclusion to Stokes’ illustrious international career. He failed to feature in the second Test of the series following an incident in a London nightclub, which he will surely now be ruing.

It comes after yet another loss to Australia in The Ashes late last year. Australia raced to a 3-0 lead in the series, and though England managed to avoid total humiliation, winning the fourth Test in Melbourne by four wickets to end an 18-match and 14-year losing streak in Australia in Ashes Tests, the Aussies came out on top in the fifth by five wickets, sealing a 4-1 series win for the hosts.

It was thought that Stokes would remain for next year’s Ashes to try to win back the urn for England, but he has confirmed he is ‘done’ and will not rethink his decision.

Ben Stokes’ Favourite to Replace Him

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Following his retirement, the 35-year-old has named his ideal successor for the captaincy, hailing Harry Brook as his choice. This comes in spite of coach Brendon McCullum’s decision to captain Joe Root in the absence of Stokes and Gus Atkinson due to disciplinary issues, which Stokes asserts he had no influence on.

He said: “There’s a reason why he [Brook] was asked to be vice-captain of this team. I know, with all the controversy over the last couple of weeks, there were some decisions that were made, but those were decisions that I wasn’t part of making.

“You’re asked to be vice-captain of a team for a certain reason. I was vice-captain under Joe [Root] for a long time, and it’s a natural progression. If the captain’s not there or unavailable, then you step up to be that, so there’s obviously no reason why Harry [Brook] shouldn’t be asked to do that.”

Stokes proceeded to praise Brook’s ability and professed that perhaps the captaincy role could be further motivation for him.

Andrew Boyers via Reuters

The Durham cricketer stood firm in his endorsement of the 27-year-old and concluded: “Only time will tell, but you don’t ask someone to be vice-captain if you don’t think that they’ve got the skills and the ability to be able to captain the team when they need to.

Andrew Boyers via Reuters

Stokes’ departure also highlights the potential end of the ‘Bazball’ era which altered England’s approach to Test cricket in recent years. In tandem with McCullum, Stokes was a key figure in that ultra-aggressive and fearless style which initially galvanised England but eventually bred inconsistent results.

Their loss to New Zealand was their seventh defeat in their last nine Test matches, signalling that a change in tactics to a more conservative style could be required against top opposition. While they are unlikely to lose all of their fearsome attacking play which has embodied their new identity, they will have to make adjustments now that Stokes has laid down his bat.

Celtic and Rangers are both in the race to sign an English defender in the summer transfer window.

The two Scottish clubs are often going head-to-head in battles for new signings due to being of similar stature.

Celtic might have an advantage over Rangers when it comes to battling for players in the current summer transfer window after they won the Scottish Premiership title last season.

Rangers will be looking to head in a new direction after appointing Derek McInnes as their manager, poaching him from fellow Scottish side Hearts.

Celtic will be looking for a little stability after it was confirmed that Martin O’Neill would continue as manager, signing a permanent deal after his temporary spell.

Celtic and Rangers Battle for Defender

According to a report from journalist Pete O’Rourke, Celtic and Rangers are among the clubs keeping tabs on former West Brom defender Michael Parker in the summer transfer window.

Parker, who stands at around 6ft 4in, left West Brom back in February, making the move to Swedish side Orgryte IS.

The 21-year-old played 10 times in the top division in Sweden, but he’s now been tipped for a move back to the UK.

Parker also spent time on loan at Hereford last season, and he’s a central defender who can also play at left-back.

Parker Has Plenty of Interest

Celtic and Rangers will need to ensure that they are able to offer Parker a pathway to senior football in the future.

The 21-year-old has plenty of interest, including from Anderlecht, Udinese, and Strasbourg, so it might not be easy for either Celtic or Rangers to win the race for his signature.

Parker hasn’t been playing at a strong level lately, so he might find it difficult to get up to speed in Scotland or at some of the other aforementioned clubs.

There’s every chance he would come in at academy level to begin with, but there’s no doubt he’ll still be looking to see a pathway to first-team football eventually.

Tottenham have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Sandro Tonali this summer.

Spurs have had a busy start to the summer transfer window, signing three new defenders and bringing in a goalkeeper already and they are not done there.

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi has moved his transfer business further up the pitch, with Tottenham in talks to sign both Tonali and West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes.

Tottenham have already had an offer in the region of £75million rejected by Newcastle for the Italian and the Lilywhites are preparing to go back in with a new offer for the 26-year-old.

Spurs have already agreed terms with Tonali

via Reuters

Reports have suggested that personal terms will not be an issue, with Tottenham reportedly already agreeing to a £200,000-a-week contract with Tonali.

However, the biggest problem – aside from agreeing a fee with Newcastle – appeared to be the competition Spurs would face in trying to complete a deal.

Manchester City have also been linked with a move for Tonali, although their initial focus was on getting a deal over the line to sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.

That transfer finally looks set to go through, after City agreed on a £116million move to sign Anderson, with add-ons taking that figure past the British transfer record Liverpool paid Newcastle for Alexander Isak last summer.

With question marks over the long-term future of Rodri at the Etihad Stadium, City, under new manager Enzo Maresca, will be looking for added reinforcements and Tonali is seen as the perfect candidate, despite the similarly large price tag on his shoulders compared with Anderson.

City are keen to have conversations with Newcastle over a move to sign Tonali, with an offer in the region of £95million being readied by the Citizens, according to Spanish publication Marca.

Man City plot alternative transfer move

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However, City may well have turned their attentions elsewhere, due to Spurs’ long-standing pursuit of Tonali.

According to the Athletic, City are now looking at making a move to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi, the 18-year-old Moroccan who has been shining at the 2026 World Cup in America, Canada and Mexico so far this summer.

The Athletic report states that “Sandro Tonali is of interest but he has an offer from Tottenham – which is another factor influencing the interest in Bouaddi”.

Spurs will be keen to get Tonali to sign on the dotted ine and continue the transfer revolution going on under De Zerbi.