Australia coach McDonald says Stokes should play 2027 Ashes

[p]The all-rounder called it quits in extraordinary fashion during the third Test against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-zealand/G6PWlrQB/"]New Zealand[/a] at Trent Bridge in late June, making his exit public on the fourth afternoon.[/p][p]The bombshell announcement came after he returned to duty following the fall-out from a London nightclub incident also involving teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/atkinson-gus/Aodjczhc/"]Gus Atkinson[/a] earlier that month.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mccullum-brendon/0KJ3u1y4/"]Brendon McCullum[/a] was sacked soon after as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/UJC5mtAU/"]England[/a]'s red-ball coach, with British media reporting this week that another New Zealander, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/livingstone-liam/lSOz1l08/"]Stephen Fleming[/a], is poised to take over.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcdonald-andrew/YyfL9ms6/"]McDonald[/a], whose side travel to England for the latest instalment of the Ashes next year, said [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stokes-ben/bqDhqGMG/"]Stokes[/a] still had plenty to offer and his return would be an ideal storyline for the series.[/p][p]"[b]The fairytale would be that he comes back out of retirement and takes on one more Ashes and builds a lot of hype on the way in,[/b]" McDonald told Australian radio station SEN late Wednesday.[/p][p]"If you're looking at promoting that series, that's probably the angle that you would want, that he comes out of retirement.[/p][p]"[b]To me, he's still got a lot of good cricket left in him ... It'll be a fascinating watch. I think that whoever the new head coach that comes in potentially has a conversation with him[/b]."[/p][embed guid="b955f4d7-31dd-4118-9942-ff3d45e56ad7" url="https://x.com/cricketcomau/status/2082321552138453469" social-type="twitter" /][p]Stokes, who is still playing at domestic level for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/durham/OSM5vpR2/"]Durham[/a], is only 35.[/p][p]By comparison, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/OxG0JfXg/"]Australia[/a] could field as many five players in their Test against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bangladesh/2of97jms/"]Bangladesh[/a] next month who are older -- [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lyon-nathan/baw6Lrll/"]Nathan Lyon[/a] (38), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smith-steven/hty17mok/"]Steve Smith[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/boland-scott/GIdPVX3B/"]Scott Boland[/a] (both 37), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/starc-mitchell/CQX4De2l/"]Mitchell Starc[/a] (36) and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hazlewood-josh/zkKrMn0r/"]Josh Hazlewood[/a] (35).[/p][p]"[b]We don't know why Ben left. I don't think there's been anything on the record around the definitive reason as to why,[/b]" added McDonald.[/p][p]"He may have just called it a day on Test cricket, and that's it, so there might be a full stop there.[/p][p]"[b]Or there might be an opportunity for that new head coach to potentially twist his arm and bring him back in[/b]."[/p]