Ashes hero Stokes to join Strikers in Big Bash return

As Test captain, Tim Paine had sleepless nights thinking about Ben Stokes. Now, seven years on from the allrounder's nightmare-inducing 2019 Ashes heroics, Paine has recruited Stokes to play for his KFC Big Bash side.

The Paine-coached Adelaide Strikers today announced one of the highest-profile signings in BBL history, with Stokes revealed to be returning to the competition he first featured in 11 years ago for the Melbourne Renegades.

Having lost the Ashes at Adelaide Oval in December, the 35-year-old will hope his return to the venue for his first playing engagement abroad after resigning from the England Test captaincy will bring happier memories.

It is a major coup in what is set to mark Stokes' first overseas T20 stint in three years. The allrounder ranks alongside Kevin Pietersen, Muttiah Muralidaran, Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis and Chris Gayle among the biggest names to be drawn to the competition.

Stokes will be available for the full season, including finals, having signed a one-year deal.

"I'm really excited to be joining the Adelaide Strikers for BBL|16," Stokes said in a statement. "I've always enjoyed playing in Australia, and when the opportunity came up to join the Strikers it was one I couldn't pass up.

"Adelaide Oval is an incredible place to play cricket, the Big Bash is a fantastic competition and the Strikers have an exciting group, so I'm looking forward to meeting the players, getting stuck in and contributing to a successful season.

"I can't wait to get started, create some special memories with the group and give Strikers fans plenty to cheer about."

Stokes has scarcely featured in short-form cricket in the years after his match-winning 2022 T20 World Cup final innings against Pakistan at the MCG in November 2022, playing just five T20 matches since while he prioritised his leadership of the Test side.

His retirement from international cricket has now freed him up, though he was a notable absence from the ECB's recent Hundred season as he played low-key 50-over matches for his county team Durham instead.

Paine, who led Australia to a drawn 2-2 Ashes series in 2019 despite Stokes' remarkable innings at Headingley, will hope his boom recruit can help the Strikers to a first finals appearance in three seasons.

"Ben is one of the greatest allrounders the game has seen, a proven match-winner and a competitor who thrives under pressure," Paine said in a statement.

"We're thrilled to have a player of his ability join our squad and can't wait to see him put on a show in BBL|16.

"Our fans have watched him produce some of the most memorable moments over the past decade, and now they'll have the chance to see him in Strikers blue."

Any awkward run-ins with other Ashes nemeses Travis Head and Alex Carey, the South Australian pair who both have extensive experience playing against Stokes, look set to be avoided given Australia's Test players are expected to play no part in the 2026-27 BBL season; after a rapid-fire home series against New Zealand, they leave for India in early January for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour.

A dressing room link-up with Carey in particular might have required some clearing of the air. Stokes, after the wicketkeeper's controversial 2023 stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord's, declared at the time that he would not have wanted to win a game "in that manner".

Contracted for BBL|16: Alex Carey (contracted until BBL|17), Mackenzie Harvey (BBL|16), Thomas Kelly (BBL|16), Lloyd Pope (BBL|16), Jason Sangha (BBL|16), Liam Scott (BBL|16), Matt Short (BBL|17), Ben Stokes (BBL|16), Tom Straker (BBL|16), Henry Thornton (BBL|16), Jerrssis Wadia (BBL|17)

 

Uncontracted: Hassan Ali (Pakistan), Cameron Boyce, Jordan Buckingham, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Harry Manenti, Harry Nielsen, Jamie Overton (England), Alex Ross, Tabraiz Shamsi (South Africa), Luke Wood (England)

 

Head coach: Tim Paine