Ben Stokes has retired from international cricket in the middle of a Test match which England were well on the way to losing against New Zealand, the country of his birth. He had just returned to the captaincy after being dropped for breaking the newly imposed (and absurd) team curfew, the night after beating New Zealand at Lord’s.

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Gareth Roberts

The problem with Burnham’s call for kinder, gentler politics

In this first Test of the summer, Stokes, in the field, had at times seemed little more than a disinterested spectator. Before that, he had, in Australia, presided over arguably the most shambolic performance ever by an England side in pursuit of the Ashes. They lost 4-1 and the behaviour of some of the players was such that it became known as the ‘stag party’ series.