ICC takes no action over England's Ben Stokes retirement video

The International Cricket Council will take no action against England over Ben Stokes’ retirement video, despite warning the England and Wales Cricket Board that the release breached its Player and Match Officials’ Area standards.

The video was filmed in the dressing room by the ECB’s media team, included audio, and was pushed out on England’s social media channels and to broadcasters at about 15:25 local time on the fourth day of the Trent Bridge Test against New Zealand, shortly before tea and while play was still under way. That timing and setting ran against PMOA minimum standards, which were built to stop recording equipment being used inside dressing rooms for broadcast purposes and to prevent footage being released before a match ends.

Those standards sit inside the ICC’s anti-corruption framework, developed in the early 2000s to reduce the risk of unwanted communication and the disclosure of inside information. The ICC wrote to the ECB after concluding that the retirement announcement, made during the third Test against New Zealand in Nottingham, fell outside those rules. Stokes later said the timing had been coordinated between his management team and the ECB.

The issue became public after the ICC’s letter was sent on the Saturday before the Women’s T20 World Cup final at Lord’s, when ECB chair Richard Thompson met ICC chairman Jay Shah. Stokes responded on social media with the line: “Sack him.” The post came after the retirement video had been pinned on the England Cricket account and viewed millions of times online.

England will face no sanction beyond the warning. Stokes’ retirement ended both his England career and his four-year spell as Test captain, leaving England to accelerate its search for a successor before the home three-Test series against Pakistan begins at Headingley on August 19. Vice-captain Harry Brook has already said it would be an honour to take over.