MARK BUTCHER
Last hurrah: Stokes promoted himself to open in his final innings for England indeed
We heard a whisper possibly half an hour before the news was announced, and none of us could imagine it. We actually thought it could possibly be a wind-up, but then the official statement dropped at 3.25pm – Ben Stokes is retiring from international cricket. No person saw it coming.
Then now we have this extraordinary moment where the group in Nottingham hears the news, they arise to applaud Stokes as he gets to the top of his mark, and he takes a wicket together with his very next ball. Stokes explodes. T…