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Ben Stokes has always been his own man. He was a rebel before. He has never been normal. So his departure was not unusual.
Everyone assumed he would lead England to the Ashes next year and want to be the Ashes-winning captain.
If he’s watching it on TV next summer, I think his mind is probably on what could have been.
I don’t know if he will one day regret this decision to retire from international cricket after the third Test against New Zealand.
Of course, we don’t know what happened in the last few days or a few weeks.
We know he did not respond to questions about whether he felt supported by the England and Wales Cricket Board over what happened at the London nightclub incident.
So we’ll have to wait and see if he has anything to say about this when he gives his final press conference.
Ever since he was ruled out of the second Test at The Oval, there has been a lot of talk about Stokes’ future but I don’t think anyone really thought he would be captain.
In the middle of a game, I think people were surprised that he chose to announce it continuously online – that’s very unusual.
He chose himself to go, but it seemed unlikely that he would. It’s a very strong will and it’s his decision.
If you look at the positions of cricketer Rob Keane, head coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes at the start of the series, it is Ben Stokes who looks the least vulnerable and most likely to stay in post.
Will Key and McCullum stay? The same doubts remain.
This had to reset. They are expected to beat New Zealand.
There were off-field shenanigans, disciplinary issues. The Great Reboot never actually happened. If things had gone smoothly, they might have won the series and looked more positively into the future, but that didn’t happen.
I don’t think Stokes will take the heat for another just because he’s gone.
There are still question marks, especially from the key position, as the rest details are unclear and that will be the job.
