Ben Stokes:international career will be remembered for countless match-winning performances, World Cup glory and unforgettable Ashes heroics. However, among his many achievements, the England all-rounder walks away with an incredibly impressive Test record that highlights the versatility he brings to the game.
Ben Stokes amazing stats:
Stokes, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket, remains the only player in Test history to have both occupied all 11 batting positions and dismissed batters occupying all 11 positions in the batting order. He is also widely credited as the only cricketer to have taken catches of batters from all 11 batting positions in Test cricket, although TimesofIndia.com cannot independently verify that statistic.It is a statistic that rarely reflects the extraordinary variety of roles he has fulfilled in a 15-year international career. Whether opening the batting, saving the middle order or ending an innings lower down the order, Stokes answered England’s call when needed. Along with the ball, he also claimed wickets in every batting position, highlighting his value as a true all-rounder.The 35-year-old brought the curtain down on his international career after the recently concluded third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. His journey in England began in 2011 and consisted of more than 250 appearances across formats.His retirement closes the chapter on one of England’s greatest modern cricketers. Stokes played defining roles in two of the country’s most spectacular victories in 2019, first with his unbeaten 84 in the dramatic ODI World Cup final against New Zealand and later with a remarkable 135 not out against Australia at Headingley to keep England’s Ashes hopes alive.He also registered a career-best Test score of 258 against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016 and retired as one of only two players in Test history to complete the remarkable double of over 7,000 runs and 250 wickets. The only other cricketer to achieve the feat is: Jacques Kallis.Stokes also revolutionized aggressive batting in the highest format, finishing with 138 sixes, the most of any batsman in Test cricket. He is one of only three batters to have hit more than 100 sixes in the format.His retirement came shortly after an off-field controversy following England’s first Test win over New Zealand. Stokes and Gus Atkinson were initially ruled out of the second Test after breaking the team’s midnight curfew while an investigation into an incident at a London nightclub was carried out.The Cricket Regulator later found that there was insufficient evidence to establish any breach of the ECB Cricket Regulations and cleared both players of any breach of the regulation. The ECB confirmed that Stokes was not involved in the dispute and did not witness any incident, while Atkinson was the victim of unprovoked attacks. However, both players received written warnings for breaching contractual standards of conduct, with their exclusion from the second Test considered sufficient punishment.While statistics capture only part of Stokes’ legacy, his unique place in the Test record books serves as another reminder of how adaptable and influential he was. Few players have affected matches in so many different ways, and no one has combined batting versatility with wicket-taking in every batting position like Ben Stokes.