Home
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald wants England’s former Test captain Ben Stokes to reverse his retirement and play in the Ashes next year. Stokes had retired from Test cricket following a nightclub incident as he and teammate Gus Atkinson went for a celebratory drink post Test series opener win against New Zealand.
ADVERTISEMENT
After a one-Test suspension due to Cricket Regulator’s investigation, he played the third Test which England lost. England ended up losing the series as well. Australia’s McDonald wants Stokes to make a fairytale return as he believes that the all-rounder’s presence will create hype.
"I think the fairytale would be that he comes back out of retirement and takes on one more Ashes and builds a lot of hype on the way in," Australia's coach told radio station SEN on Wednesday.
"If you're looking at promoting that series, that's probably the angle that you would want, that he comes out of retirement.”
McDonald believes Stokes has plenty left in the tank. He expects outgoing head coach Brendon McCullum’s successor to convince Stokes to take a u-turn on his retirement decision which was made public during the third Test of the series against the Kiwis. The former Australian cricketer wonders why Stokes left Test cricket in an abrupt manner.
"To me, he's still got a lot of good cricket left in him. It'll be a fascinating watch. I think that whoever the new head coach that comes in potentially has a conversation with him.
"We don't know why Ben left, I don't think there's been anything on the record around the definitive reason as to why. He may have just called it a day on Test cricket and that's it, so there might be a full stop there.”
Stokes lets the bat do the talking after retirement
Since his retirement from international cricket, he has returned to playing domestic cricket for Durham. The 35-year-old also played a first-class game for Durham during the second Test of the series against the BlackCaps. He scored 95 against Northamptonshire. Less than a month after Test retirement, he made his One-Day comeback for Durham after 12 years. In Durham’s One-Day Cup campaign opener against Derbyshire, he wreaked havoc with an unbeaten 108 in the run chase. In the following game, he scored an unbeaten 51-ball 73 against Sussex in a winning cause. His next appearance is against Glamorgan on July 29.
He hasn’t given up on red-ball cricket either. He will play a few County Championship games for the remainder of the season as well.
Stokes to play T20 franchise cricket?
Stokes has retired from all forms of international cricket. He is still 35 years old, not too old for franchise cricket. He is likely to find plenty of takers in franchise T20 leagues. He may be on the list of Big Bash League (BBL), ILT20 and SA20 League franchises. He may make himself available for an Indian Premier League (IPL) return as well. However, it is not clear whether he will be eligible to participate in the mini-auction for 2027 season. His international cricket retirement may make him an exception among overseas cricketers.
When will Ashes 2027 begin?
The Ashes 2027 will begin on June 18, 2027, at Nottingham, Trent Bridge, the same venue where Stokes retired. The rest of the five-Test series will be played at London's Lord's, Birmingham's Edgbaston, Southampton's The Rose Bowl and London's Kennington Oval.
ADVERTISEMENT
