India, June 29 -- Ben Stokes did not retire like a normal cricketer because he was never a normal cricketer. The announcement came in the middle of a Test match, during the deciding game against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, with England still trying to save a series and Stokes still trying to bend one last contest to his will. He then took a wicket moments after the news broke, walked out to open in his final innings, smashed 30 off 20 balls, and left to a standing ovation.

That was Stokes in one frame: drama, defiance, theatre, skill, chaos and consequence.

The numbers are big enough to demand respect. He leaves Test cricket with 122 matches, 7,273 runs and 252 wickets. Across formats, he played 279 internationals, scoring 11,321 runs ...