Ben Stokes
When and where was cricket player Ben Stokes born?
What are some of Ben Stokes’s notable achievements in cricket?
What disciplinary issues did Ben Stokes face early in his career?
How did Ben Stokes perform in the 2019 Ashes series?
What is “Bazball” and who introduced it?
News •
Ben Stokes (born June 4, 1991, Christchurch, New Zealand) is an English cricketer who has scored more than 10,000 runs and taken more than 300 wickets over his career. He is a left-handed batter and right-arm pace bowler. He first captained the England Test cricket team in 2020 and has served as the regular captain since 2022. Known in his early career for his prodigious talent but also disciplinary issues, Stokes has since established himself as a dependable player for England. He was Player of the Match in the 2019 One Day International (ODI) World Cup final, which England won for the first time. Stokes has also commanded a price tag of more than one million pounds multiple times at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.
Early life and career
Stokes was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1991 and lived in the country until he was 12. His family moved to Cumbria, England, after his father, former rugby player Gerard Stokes, became head coach of the Workington Rugby League Club. As a teenager Stokes played for Cockermouth Cricket Club. He then joined Durham county’s academy and scored a century for the U17 team.
In January 2010 Stokes was part of the England squad for the U19 World Cup and scored a century in the tournament. In March that year he made his first-class debut for Durham against a Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team, scoring a half-century and taking one wicket. In 2011 Stokes was called up to the national team, making his ODI and Twenty20 International (T20I) debuts in matches against Ireland and the West Indies, respectively.
Stokes was included in the England Lions squad (second-tier country team) for an Australian tour in early 2013 but was sent home for breaking team rules and going out drinking late at night despite repeated warnings. He then helped Durham win the county championship (first-class domestic cricket competition in England and Wales) in 2013 and the One-Day Cup (limited overs domestic cricket contest) in 2014.
International career before 2019
Stokes made his Test debut during England’s tour of Australia in 2013–14 and was one of the bright spots in their 5–0 thrashing. He scored his first Test century in the third match of the series in Perth. In March 2014 Stokes fractured his right wrist after striking a dressing-room locker during the final match of England’s tour of West Indies. He was sidelined for three months and subsequently dropped from the Test team.
Stokes returned to the Test side in 2015 and scored a rapid 92 and 101 as England beat New Zealand in a Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground. He was included in the squad for England’s 2015–16 tour of South Africa and began 2016 by scoring 258, which, as of August 2025, was the second fastest double-century of all time, behind only New Zealand player Nathan Astle. Stokes’s excellent form led to him being included in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC’s) Men’s Test Team of the Year for 2016.
Stokes hit a rough patch, on and off the field, over the next couple of years. He was handed the ball for the last over of the 2016 T20 World Cup final, with the West Indies needing 19 runs to win from 6 balls. Stokes’s first four balls were hit for sixes as the West Indies won the championship. In September 2017 Stokes was arrested after a street brawl outside a nightclub in Bristol, England, and charged with affray (fighting in public and disturbing the peace). He was dropped from the squad for the 2017–18 Australia tour, a series in which he had been expected to play a key role, and removed as England’s vice captain, which he had just been named. In 2018 Stokes was found not guilty but was fined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for bringing the game into disrepute. He returned to the England side during a series against India in August 2018.
Annus mirabilis in 2019
2019 was Stokes’s annus mirabilis (Latin: “wondrous year”). He played a vital role during England’s 2019 ODI World Cup campaign at home. During the final against New Zealand, Stokes scored an unbeaten 84, with England securing a tie and taking the game into a super over (tiebreaker), which also ended with the scores level. England was awarded the trophy based on a boundary-count rule (the team that has scored more boundaries is declared the winner), and Stokes was named Player of the Match.
Ben Stokes won several awards in 2019. He was named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year, and he was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year’s Honours List (awarded by the British monarch for significant achievements or contributions).
In the Ashes series that followed at home, Stokes helped England draw the five-match bilateral contest 2–2 with an unbeaten knock of 135 in the third Test at Leeds, which England won by a single wicket.
Stokes announced his retirement from ODIs in 2022 but reversed his decision briefly ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup and scored 182 in a match against New Zealand before the tournament, which, as of August 2025, was the highest score by an England player in the format.
Stokes took a wicket and scored an unbeaten 52 against Pakistan to help England win the final of the 2022 T20I World Cup.
Captaincy
After leading the Test side the previous year, Stokes was named captain of a squad of rookies (nine of the players in the team were making their debut) for an ODI series against Pakistan at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2021. He withdrew from all forms of cricket a month later, citing a need to recover from injuries and focus on his mental health, but returned for the December 2021–January 2022 Ashes series in Australia.
In April 2022 Joe Root resigned as England Test captain and Stokes was named his successor. Stokes and recently appointed coach Brendon McCullum came up with an attacking style of play that came to be known as “Bazball” (for McCullum’s nickname, Baz). With its new look England won separate Test series against New Zealand and South Africa in 2022, becoming known for fast-paced run scoring and aggressive tactics. Stokes broke McCullum’s record for hitting the most Test career sixes in 2023 and, as of August 2025, still led the list. In 2024 Stokes scored England’s fastest Test half-century, off only 24 balls, in the third Test of a 3–0 sweep of the West Indies at home.
Franchise cricket
Since 2010 Stokes has represented his home side, Durham, in the Vitality Blast tournament (a domestic T20 cricket league in England and Wales). He played one season for the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League in Australia in 2014–15. In the tournament format launched in 2021, “The Hundred,” where each innings comprises 100 deliveries, Stokes appeared for the Leeds-based Northern Superchargers in 2021 and 2024.
- Born:
- June 4, 1991, Christchurch, New Zealand (age 34)
Stokes was signed by IPL team Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017 for £1.7 million (about $2.2 million). He was named Most Valuable Player for the season as the team finished in second place. In 2018 he moved to the Rajasthan Royals for £1.4 million (about $1.8 million), playing until he broke his finger during the franchise’s opening game of IPL 2021 and missed the rest of the tournament. Stokes skipped IPL 2022 to focus on his Test career before signing with the Chennai Super Kings for £1.6 million (about $2 million) in IPL 2023, where he played only two matches. He was released from the team before IPL 2024. Stokes opted out of participating in IPL 2025.