2 min readAug 4, 2026 04:05 PM IST
Former England captain Ben Stokes has ruled out any possibility of making an international comeback but has expressed a strong desire to coach the national team in the future.
“I’m doing my level three coaching now while I’m still playing, because I want, when the day comes that I’m not playing any more, I’d love to be able to have all that stuff signed off and done,” Stokes said on the For the Love of Cricket podcast, speaking alongside his former teammates Jos Buttler and Stuart Broad.
“I know what I want to do in terms of staying within the game, which is to be a coach. And would I love to be coach of England one day? Absolutely. I just really like the idea of being, again, like, in some form of leadership away from playing,” he added.
The 35-year-old shocked the cricketing world when he announced his retirement from international cricket in June, bringing an end to his storied career during the home series against New Zealand. He was in the eye of a storm before he announced his retirement after being involved in an altercation with a Saracens rugby player in a nightclub alongside teammate Gus Atkinson after the first Test at Lord’s.
While England team director Rob Key has recently suggested the door would remain open for Stokes to make a dramatic return ahead of next summer’s Ashes, the all-rounder made it clear he has no intention of reversing his decision. When asked by Buttler whether he had definitely retired, Stokes replied: “Definitely.”
Stokes bows out with over 10,000 international runs and 300-plus wickets, including the rare distinction of being just the third player to bag 7000-plus Test runs and 200-plus wickets after Garry Sobers and Jacques Kallis.
He had earlier rejected suggestions he could return for the Ashes, telling BBC Test Match Special: “I am incredibly content with everything right now. It is a decision I don’t take lightly. It has taken a lot of time. I am done. I am very happy.”
