Stokes was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and moved to England as a child. He made his T20I debut in 2011, his Test debut in 2013 and played for the England One Day International (ODI) team from 2011 before retiring from the format in July 2022. He was part of the England team that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup, top-scoring in England's innings in the final before batting in the tied Super Over and winning the Man of the Match award. He was named Wisden's best cricketer in the world in 2019, 2020 and 2023, and won the 2019 ICC Award for Best Men's Cricketer and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. In April 2022, he was named captain of the England Test team and was part of the England team that won the 2022 T20 World Cup, achieving the highest score in the final.

An all-rounder, Stokes is a left-handed middle-order batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. He holds the world Test record for most runs in an innings at number six and scored 258 against South Africa during England's 2015-16 tour. In the same Test, he and Jonny Bairstow set the world record for the highest sixth-wicket stand in Tests with 399. In February 2023, he set a new record for the total number of sixes hit in a Test career, surpassing the previous tally of 107 set by his then coach Brendon McCullum.

Early Life

Benjamin Andrew Stokes was born on June 4, 1991 in Christchurch, New Zealand to rugby league footballer and coach Gerard Stokes (known as "Ged") and has some Māori ancestry. Stokes moved to England at the age of 12 after his father was appointed head coach of rugby league club Workington Town. He grew up in the small town of Cockermouth in West Cumbria, attended Cockermouth School and played cricket for Cockermouth Cricket Club. He dropped out of state school at the age of 16 with only a GCSE in physical education. As a 15-year-old, he won the North Lancashire & Cumbria Cricket League Premier Division title with the club in 2006. His parents then moved back to New Zealand to live in Christchurch again.

Domestic Career

Stokes made his one-day debut for Durham at The Oval in 2009, managing to take the wicket of highly experienced batsman Mark Ramprakash in just his third performance in professional cricket. He played in two youth tests against Bangladesh U19 in 2009 in which he made half a century and won some wickets. He then played at the 2010 U19 World Cup where he scored for a century against the India U19 team.

Stokes made his first-class debut for Durham against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in the traditional season opener, held at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium in 2010. During that game he sacked half a century and took one wicket. He also made his league debut for Durham at the start of the 2010 County Cricket season, playing in a match against Essex. He celebrated his first top-flight century at Trent Bridge against Nottinghamshire on 13 May 2010. He has also played for Durham in the Clydesdale Bank 40-Over competition. Durham's ongoing problems with many injured players early in the 2010 season meant Stokes continued to play for Durham in all forms of play. After a very successful debut season in top-flight cricket, he earned a place in the England Performance Program and traveled to Australia during the 2010/11 Ashes.

Stokes was a key member of the Durham side that won the County Championship in 2013 and was also named Man of the Match in the final of the 2014 Royal London One-Day Cup Final at Lord's after scoring 38* and 2 wickets in had won a low-goal game against Warwickshire.

On 2 January 2015, Stokes joined Australia's Big Bash League's Melbourne Renegades for the remainder of the season as a replacement for Jesse Ryder, who was ruled out due to injury.

On 13 February 2017, Stokes was named vice-captain of the England Test team, replacing Joe Root, who was made captain on the same day.

On 6 May 2022, Stokes marked his return to Durham with a record 161 from 88 balls on the second day of the County Championship match against Worcestershire, in which he scored 34 runs in a single over. In the said over, Stokes hit five sixes in a row, but failed to cleanly hit the last delivery of the over and only managed a one-bounce four, thereby missing out on becoming only the third cricketer in history to do so scored six sixes in an over in first-class cricket. However, the innings still beat Paul Collingwood's record for the fastest first-class century by a Durham player and the record for the most sixes hit in a county championship innings.

Stokes has been part of the Northern Superchargers squad since The Hundred's inaugural season in 2021, but has only made two appearances for them so far. Despite missing the entire 2022 competitive season, he was signed by the Superchargers on February 15, 2023 ahead of the upcoming season.

Indian Premier League

Ben Stokes IPL In February 2017, Stokes was bought by Rising Pune Supergiants to play in the Indian Premier League during the 2017 season. He made his first 20th century against the Gujarat Lions, not hitting 103 from 63 balls, including seven fours and six sixes. He joined Rajasthan Royals for the 2018 season after being bought for £1.7million, the most expensive player of the 2018 IPL auction. In October 2020 he not scored 107 for Rajasthan in a 152 unbeaten partnership with Sanju Samson royals.

Ben Stokes IPL 2021
During the 2021 IPL, Stokes suffered a finger injury that ruled him out for the entire season after just one game.

He withdrew from the 2022 edition as he wanted to focus on his country's Test team. He was bought by Chennai Super Kings to play for INR in the 2023 IPL season. 16.25 Crore (₹1.6 Mn) at the IPL auction on December 23, 2022.

International Career
2011–2012 Ireland, India and New Zealand

Stokes made his senior England debut in August 2011 in a One Day International (ODI) against Ireland. Stokes was caught and bowled by Paul Stirling for just three runs and did not bowl; however, he made a catch.

2013-14 Ashes Series

Stokes was selected for the England squad for the 2013/14 Ashes series against Australia. He became the 658th player to represent England at Test level. He made his debut in the 2nd Test, taking wickets from Michael Clarke and Peter Siddle before contributing a run in England's first innings. In the second innings, he made 28 carries from 90 balls in England's loss. He was selected in the 3rd Test and took the wicket from Brad Haddin, then made 18 of 57 deliveries. In Australia's second innings, he bowled Michael Clarke and took Steve Smith's wicket. He made his first Test century in England's second innings, scoring 120 balls from 195 before being caught. He made 14 runs in the first innings of the 4th Test and then managed to pull out Shane Watson. In the second innings, he struck out for 19 runs and took the wicket from David Warner in England's loss. Stokes recorded a career-best 6 wickets for 99 runs in the first innings of the 5th Test, including the major wickets of Captain Clarke for 10 and top innings scorer Steve Smith for 115. Stokes notched the highest of 47 runs in England Worth the first innings that helped England hobble to 155. He went for 32 in the second innings, ending the streak at the end of a 5-0 whitewash. Stokes enjoyed a solid streak but finished as England's third highest run scorer with 279 runs and also second highest wicket taker with 15 wickets. Stokes was the only England batsman to score a hundred points in the series. Stokes was praised for his batting efforts on a typically fast and bouncy Waca surface against enemy fast bowling from Mitchell Johnson at the peak of his bowling powers. The Guardian described Stoke's WACA century as the only welcome positive for the future.

2015 Ashes

In the one-off T20I against Australia, Stokes hit numbers 1–29 as England won by five runs. Stokes played in all five ODIs against Australia, his best performance with the ball coming in the second game of the series where he hit numbers from 3 to 60, although England lost the match by 59 runs. During the second ODI game of the series against Australia, Stokes was issued to block the field. He was only the sixth batsman to be drawn this way in an ODI game. While Stokes never took another wicket in the series, his batting improved. He scored 41 in the fourth ODI which England won by 3 wickets. Despite England losing the final ODI to lose the series 3-2, Stokes was one of England's better performers, scoring 42 of their 138 runs.

2015 Pakistan

Stokes was included in the England Test squad for the tour against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. At the first Test in Abu Dhabi, he went 4-57 with the ball in Pakistan's first innings before going 57 with the bat in England's first innings. The game eventually ended in a draw when poor light halted play on the final day. In the second game of the series Stokes was ineffective, taking just one wicket in the game and scoring 4 and 13 points with the bat as England suffered a 127-run loss. He suffered a shoulder injury in the third and final Test in Sharjah but still beat out 11th when England ultimately lost the match and thus the series.

2015–16 South Africa

Stokes returned to full fitness to take his place on England's winter tour of South Africa. While Stokes didn't make a stellar contribution in the first Test, England won by 241 runs. In England's first innings of the second Test in Cape Town, Stokes reached the kink with England 167-4 and faced a hat-trick ball from Kagiso Rabada. Stokes then went on to a career-high 258, including 30 fours and 11 sixes. It was the second-fastest double century in Test cricket history (from 167 balls). His sixth wicket tally with Jonny Bairstow (who scored 150 himself) of 399 was a new world record, 196 of which was scored in 25 overs in the morning session on Day 2 alone. Stokes' innings were ended in bizarre fashion when, after hitting back-to-back sixes, he was dropped by AB de Villiers, only to be out of contention after a pause between the wickets.

The game ended in a draw, with the batsmen dominating the game. In the third Test, Stokes gained five wickets as England won, securing a series win for England. The fourth and final match of the series was won by South Africa, although Stokes took a further five wickets, including 4-86 in South Africa's first innings.

In the first Test against India, Stokes made 128 in England's first innings to help them go to 537. He took one wicket in India's first innings before going 29 unbeaten. The match ended in a draw. In the second Test, he finished with numbers 1–73 in India's first innings before making 70 with the bat. He was out for six in England's second innings as they lost by 246 runs. In the third Test he went 29 in England's first innings and then took 5-73 in India's first innings. After making five in the second innings, Stokes failed to take another wicket as England suffered another loss. In the fourth Test, he made 31 in England's first innings score of 400 but failed to pick up a wicket or make an impression in England's second innings as they lost by one inning and 36 runs. In the final match of the series, Stokes picked up just one wicket and scored 29 runs in the match as England lost by an inning and 75 runs. For his performances in 2016 he was included in the World Test XI by the ICC and Cricinfo. He was also included in the 2016 ODI XI by Cricinfo.

2017 South Africa, Champions Trophy and West Indies

Stokes scored his second ODI century against South Africa in the run-up to the Champions Trophy and his third in the tournament itself against Australia. He was also named by the ICC as part of the 2017 Champions Trophy Team of the Tournament.

He scored 299 runs, including a century at The Oval, and won 7 wickets in four Test series against South Africa. In three Test series against West Indies, he scored 228 runs and took 9 wickets. At Headingley he scored his fourth Test century in the second Test, and at Lord's in the third he took a career-best 6–22 with the ball.

Cricket World Cup 2019

In April 2019, Stokes was called up to England's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

In the tournament's opening game against South Africa, he scored 89 runs from 79 balls, won two wickets, outpaced Dwaine Pretorius and made two catches to be declared man of the match for England in an overall 104-run victory. His catch of dismissing Andile Phehlukwayo has been described as "one of the greatest catches of all time".

Stokes had several standout performances with the racquet later in the group stage. Stokes was stuck on 82* when England were eliminated on 212 in a surprise 20-run loss to Sri Lanka. He again proved the only stand against Australia's bowling attack in the following game by scoring 89 runs in a 286 chase. England ended up trailing by 64 runs as they retired for 221 bowling. In a must-win match against India in the group game that followed, Stokes played a very important inning, hitting a quick fire of 79 carries in 54 balls while England won by 31 carries.

In the final against New Zealand he scored 84*, including 2 final sixes (one traditional and one from falls after a ball bounced off Stokes' racquet to the limit) to tie the game. He then batted in the super-over with Jos Buttler, which was again a draw, but England won the match under the boundary countback rule in force at the time. For this performance, he was named Man of the Match for the second time in the tournament.

He was named by the ICC to the "Team of the Tournament" for the 2019 World Championship.

2019 Ashes

Faced with an incisive Australian bowling attack and a Bradman-esque smashing contribution from Steve Smith, Stokes played a crucial role in England ultimately being able to draw the 2019 Ashes series 2-2 (although that meant Australia retained the ballot box).

Ben Stokes Headingley
In the third Test at Headingley, England looked set for certain defeat after being knocked out by 67 in their first innings. Stokes managed to reverse an Australian lead overnight, hitting 11 fours and 8 sixes to win with an unbeaten 135* in a record 359 pursuit. His innings have been described as "one of the greatest innings ever" and the "greatest ever played by an Englishman".

2019 New Zealand

Stokes continued his good form at the Tour of New Zealand. He scored 91 and 28 points as England suffered an innings loss in the first friendly of the series. He then hit 26 runs in his only innings in the next Test as England tied the match to lose the series.

Stokes Cricket was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2019 and ICC Player of the Year at the 2019 ICC Awards.

2019–20 South Africa

Stokes' form continued in a 4 Test match tour of South Africa when he was named Player of the Series after scoring 318 runs and winning 10 wickets. After losing the 1st Test, Stokes put on a Man of the Match performance in the 2nd Test. He scored 47 and 72 points, the latter having just 47 balls to set South Africa a 437 goal. Stokes then managed to break the hosts' resistance as they battled to a tie, taking the last 3 wickets to the bowl and taking them out for 248 runs to even the streak. In the following game, his first innings record of 120 was crucial to set up an innings win for England, meaning they went 2-1 up in the series going into the final Test game. Stokes only made 2 and 28 runs in the final Test but he took 4 wickets in the match as England won by 191 runs to secure a second consecutive away win against South Africa.

2020 West Indies

On 17 June 2020, Stokes was added to England's 30-man squad to begin behind closed doors training for the Test series against the West Indies. Stokes was named captain for one of the teams in the official inter-squad warm-up game. In the absence of regular captain Joe Root (due to the birth of his child), it was announced that Stokes, as vice-captain, would therefore captain England for the first time. Prior to his appointment as captain, Stokes had never captained a side in a first-class List A or Twenty20 cricket match. In the first Test, Stokes took his 150th wicket to become the sixth cricketer to score 4,000 runs and take 150 wickets in Tests and in the first innings of the second Test Stokes scored 176 runs to record his tenth century in Test cricket.

2021 Substitute Captain, Break and the Ashes

During the 2021 season, the England limited over squad suffered a COVID outbreak at the end of a limited overs series against Sri Lanka. The entire squad, including captain Eoin Morgan, was forced to self-isolate just ahead of a home series against Pakistan. Stokes had not played against Sri Lanka through injury, making him the oldest player for the ODI games in Pakistan, for which he was named captain. He led the inexperienced team, in which he made nearly four times as many ODI appearances as the rest of the team combined, to a nine-wicket win in the first game. In the next game of the series against Pakistan, Stokes played in his 100th ODI match.

On 30 July 2021 it was announced that Stokes would be taking an "indefinite break" from cricket. In October 2021, Stokes was added to England's squad for the 2021–22 Ashes series in Australia.

2022: Test captain and T20 World Cup

On 28 April 2022, Stokes was named England men's Test captain following the resignation of Joe Root. With new coach Brendon McCullum, Stokes developed a new style of play, later known as Bazball, known for his fearless and entertaining style.
In June 2022, Stokes began his captaincy with the 3-0 win against the New Zealand cricket team in England. He scored 194 runs in 5 innings at an average of 48.50.

In July 2022, England defeated the South African team 2-1 in Test series, Stokes was named player of the series, he scored 149 runs in 4 innings at an average of 37.25 and picked up 10 wickets with a bowling average of 15.70

ODI Retirement and Return

On 18 July 2022, Stokes announced that he would be retiring from ODI cricket after the first match of the series against South Africa, citing the physical and mental demands of playing all three formats. On 16 August 2023, it was announced that Stokes would be coming out of ODI retirement and was named in the England squad for the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

T20 World Cup 2022

In the final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022, Stokes scored an unbeaten 52* runs, helping England win the World Cup by defeating Pakistan.

2022 Pakistan

Following the 2022 Pakistan floods, Stokes confirmed that he would donate his match fees from the Pakistan Test series to the flood appeal. Stokes added: “Hopefully this donation can be used to rebuild the most flood-affected areas of Pakistan.”

Personal Life

Stokes got engaged to Clare Ratcliffe in 2013. They married in October 2017 in East Brent, Somerset. They have two children. Stokes has a tattoo of a family of lions, symbolizing his own family, that covers his entire back. Stokes has Maori Ngāpuhi heritage, which is reflected in one of his tattoos. Stokes and his mother received damages in 2021 from The Sun, which published a front-page story in 2019 about a family tragedy that it said was not in the public interest.

Nightclub Incident and Affray Charges

After the third ODI against West Indies in Bristol in September 2017, Stokes was arrested after he was involved in a street brawl near a nightclub with two men, where teammate Alex Hales was also present. This incident resulted in both players missing the fourth game of the series, and a hand injury sustained in the brawl also ruled Stokes out of the final game. He also missed the 2017–18 Ashes and the second Test match against India due to the incident and subsequent trial. Due to these incidents, he lost his clothing sponsorship with New Balance.

Stokes was charged with affray along with the other two men on January 15, 2018, and appeared at Bristol Magistrates Court on February 13, 2018. During the trial, which began on August 6, 2018, Stokes said he was defending a gay couple from homophobic abuse from the other two men. He was acquitted on August 14th. The pair then thanked Stokes for his defense and said he “did not deserve to be brought to justice”.

In September 2018, Stokes was accused of bringing the game into disrepute by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over the Bristol incident and social media posts. Stokes pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined £30,000 and given an eight-match ban in December 2018, a ban he had already served at the time.

Mental Health

Stokes has been open about the mental health issues he has faced throughout his career. In June 2021, Stokes announced an indefinite break from cricket to focus on his "mental wellbeing". He later explained that the combination of disappointment with the ECB's handling of the Bristol nightclub incident, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of his father Ged Stokes in December 2020 from brain cancer had led to him being under I suffered from anxiety and panic attacks. In August 2022, Stokes said he was still talking to his therapist and continuing to take anti-anxiety medication.

Records and Achievements

Man of the Final at the Cricket World Cup - 2019

Second fastest test double hundred in terms of facing balls.

Fastest 250 in tests where he only took 196 balls.

Second highest number of sixes in a Test innings - 11 sixes

Most runs in a Test innings in sixth position - 258 runs

Most runs in the first session of a day in tests - 130 runs

Highest Test partnership for the sixth wicket. He achieved that feat against South Africa when he partnered with Jonny Bairstow on 399 runs.

Was the second cricketer, after Ian Botham, to score over 4,000 runs and over 100 wickets in Tests for England.

Highest number of sixes in a County Championship innings – 17 (for Durham against Worcestershire in May 2022)

Most runs in a ODI innings for England - 182 runs

Honors

ICC Cricket World Cup - 2019

ICC T20 World Cup - 2022

He was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Allerdale on 25 September 2019.

He was awarded the 2019 BBC Sports Personality of the Year in Aberdeen.

Stokes was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to cricket.

Cricket World Cup Winner 2019

He was named as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2020, 2021 and 2023 editions of the Almanack.

Named as the Indian Premier League's Most Valuable Player for the 2017 season.