England test captain Ben Stokes said he opted out of the bidding in the Indian Premier League to prioritize playing international cricket in what he described as the “back end” of his career. Stokes sat out the lucrative IPL this year to ease his workload following knee problems and was a notable absentee in the auction for the 2025 edition.

Five months after leaving his job as England coach, Gareth Southgate is still pondering where his future lies. It might be outside soccer. In a long post on social media platform LinkedIn, Southgate said he is searching for his next “purpose” in life after his time as the coach of the England men’s national team from 2016-2024 — a high-pressure role in which any comment,