Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes is an English all-rounder, England Test captain, and ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year 2019. He won both the 2019 Cricket World Cup and the 2019 Ashes in the same summer with match-defining performances that remain among the most extraordinary in the sport's history. On August 25, 2019, England needed 359 runs to win the 3rd Ashes Test at Headingley and they were 286 for 9. One wicket from defeat. Jack Leach walked out to join Ben Stokes at the crease, and what followed was the most extraordinary innings in modern cricket. Stokes scored 135 not out, farming the strike, hitting sixes off bowlers who had no idea what to bowl at him, and dragging England to a one-wicket victory that the entire ground, the entire country, and most of the cricket world could not believe was actually happening. Three weeks earlier, Stokes had won the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final at Lord's with a Super Over performance that was almost as improbable. Two impossible feats in the same summer. One player.

Named ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year in 2020, Stokes is the most influential all-rounder in world cricket. A left-handed batsman who bats in the middle order with aggression that borders on recklessness, a right-arm fast-medium bowler who swings the ball and can produce devastating spells when the conditions suit, and an athletic fielder whose catching at slip and in the outfield adds a third dimension to his value. Stokes does not just play cricket. He bends it.

As England Test captain since 2022, Stokes has introduced "Bazball," a philosophy of aggressive, positive play that has transformed English Test cricket from cautious and conservative into thrilling and unpredictable. Under Bazball, England's batsmen attack from the first over, bowlers are encouraged to be aggressive rather than contain, and the results have been spectacular entertainment, even when the results have not always followed. The 2025-26 Ashes in Australia exposed some of Bazball's limitations, with England losing 4-1, but the approach has produced memorable victories against India, South Africa, and New Zealand at home.

In 2026, Stokes captains England through a packed home summer that will define his legacy as a leader. The England vs New Zealand Test series begins June 4 at Lord's, followed by matches at The Oval. The England vs Pakistan Test series starts August 19 at Headingley, the ground where his legend was born. Stokes captaining at Headingley, seven years after that innings, is one of 2026's most compelling sporting narratives. Check whatisthetime.now/country/united-kingdom for UK time during England's Tests.