7000+ runs, 250+ wickets, and only Kallis for company

Ben Stokes announced his retirement from International cricket on the fourth day of the Trent Bridge Test, pulling curtains on a 15-year career with over 250 caps across formats. He last played white ball cricket for England in ODI World Cup 2023 in India. A peep into the major career highlights of him in numbers.

2 - Stokes is one of the two cricketers with the double of 7000+ runs and 250+ wickets in Test cricket, the other being Jacques Kallis (13289 runs & 292 wickets).

3 - Oppositions against whom Stokes has the double of 1000 runs and 40 wickets - India (1920, 59), Australia (1746, 56), and West Indies (1339, 43). Only three other all-rounders have managed the double against three different opponents: Gary Sobers (Australia, India & England), Kapil Dev (England, Pakistan & West Indies), and Kallis (Australia, England & West Indies).

138 sixes by Stokes is the most by a batter in Tests and he is one of the three batters with 100+ maximums in the format. 39 of these 138 came against Australia - the most by a player against an opposition.

258 by Stokes against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016 is the second highest individual score for a player batting #6 or lower in Tests, only behind Don Bradman's 270 against England at the MCG in 1937 batting at seven. Stokes hammered 11 sixes in that innings - the joint third most for a batter in an innings in Tests and the most by an England batter.

Stokes is one of two batters to achieve the distinction of hitting 10 or more sixes in an innings in both Tests and ODIs, the other being the coach of his last series in charge - Brendon McCullum.

163 balls taken by Stokes to get to his double hundred in Cape Town remains the second quickest in the format, only Nathan Astle's 153-ball effort in Christchurch in 2002 sitting ahead.

Stokes also holds the record for the fastest hundred (by balls) at the 'Home of cricket' at Lord's, hitting an 85-ball century against New Zealand in 2015 - a point which kickstarted his peak.

Though he showed glimpses of his rich talent in his maiden series Down Under in 2013/14, he hit the strides in the home summer of 2015. From then until the summer of 2020, Stokes played 58 Tests where he aggregated close to 4000 runs at a shade under 40 and complemented it with 133 wickets at just under 30.

In the last part of his career, his batting abilities waned significantly but he remained at his peak as a bowler whenever his body allowed, ending with a career average of 30.98 - the lowest it had been ever in his 122-match career.

Looking at the peaks for all-rounders in the longest format - a double of 2500 runs and 100 wickets in 50 consecutive Tests, Stokes managed the double in 35 sequences, only behind Kallis (55), Botham (51), and Sobers (44).

In 50 Tests between the Cape Town Test in 2016 until February 2021, Stokes scored 3576 runs at 41.10 and picked up 113 wickets at 27.92 - a difference of 13.18. Only 12 players managed this double spanning 50 Tests, of which only five have managed it at a higher difference between batting and bowling averages.

(The values for the best 50-Test sequence for the player ranked by the highest difference between batting & bowling average in the 50-Test sequence)

24 - Stokes led England to 24 wins across the 44 Tests he was in charge - joint third most for them. Stokes is one of the three English captains with a win% of over 50 in the format, the other two being Mike Brearley and Michael Vaughan.

4.55 - Percentage of drawn Tests for Stokes as skipper - the fewest amongst the 66 captains who led in at least 25 matches.

4.40 - Scoring rate in Tests in which Stokes was in charge - the only captain under whom four-plus runs were scored on an average every over (minimum 25 Tests). England lost a wicket every 46.2 balls in these Tests, the worst among the 66 captains who led in 25+ Tests.

2 - Instances of England winning 350+ fourth innings chases - 378 at Edgbaston in 2022 and 371 at Headingley, both against India. There have only been 14 successful fourth innings chases of 350+, with Stokes being the only one to lead to two wins.

3 - Instances of England losing a series after taking a 1-0 lead in Stokes' captaincy era since June 2022. England lost in India 1-4 in 2024 and later in the year in Pakistan 1-2. The last such instance came against New Zealand in his last rubber in charge.

2 - Stokes is one of two England players with the double of 4000+ runs and 100+ wickets in white-ball cricket (ODIs and T20Is combined). He has 4048 runs and exactly 100 scalps, with only Paul Collingwood ahead of him (5675 runs & 127 wickets).

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