MICHAEL VAUGHAN has called for more leadership change in English cricket and suggested a new regime could try to lure Ben Stokes back out of retirement ahead of the 2027 Ashes.

Stokes will call time on a decorated and eventful England career at the end of the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge today, with the bombshell news announced 24 hours earlier.

The Test captain’s relationship with the rest of the England hierarchy has been scrutinised following a tumultuous past few weeks, although head coach Brendon McCullum has repeatedly played down rumours of any rift between himself and Stokes.

McCullum and managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key were backed to lead the rebuild after last winter’s 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia but England lost a home series of two or more Tests today for the first time in 14 years.

Vaughan, who led England to glory in the seminal 2005 Ashes, told the BBC: “There must be change after what we’ve seen here in terms of a cricketing sense now over a period of time.

“I’ll be absolutely staggered if this leadership group is still together (after the New Zealand series).”

England will bid to win the urn back on home soil next summer and Vaughan believes Stokes could be lured back for one last crack at Australia if there are changes at the top.

Vaughan added: “That new leadership group might just get in their nice cars, drive up to Durham and say to Ben, ‘Ben, you’re playing great, any chance of one last hurrah against Australia this summer?’

“I would not rule that out.”

Sir Andrew Strauss believes English cricket will be “far worse” and “less interesting” without Stokes but questioned the timing of his retirement announcement.

News of Stokes ending his England career after the third Test broke at 3:25pm on the penultimate day’s play in Nottingham, when the all-rounder was in the middle of a bowling spell.

His intangible ability to seize the moment was amplified when he bagged a wicket with his first ball following the announcement, although England’s helter-skelter batting approach contributed to their defeat.

Strauss, who captained England to the top of the world Test rankings in 2011 before retiring the following year, wrote on his LinkedIn page: “The truth is that the job just burns you out, especially if you take on as much responsibility as Ben did in the role.

“He will rightly go down as one of England’s genuine greats. This is a guy who revelled in the big moments. A genuine superstar.

“I hesitate to say this but I’m not convinced the whole thing was orchestrated the right way yesterday — it seems like a huge distraction to a team that was battling to avoid a series defeat and the cricket in the last session very much had an ‘end of term’ feel to it.

“Everyone has the right to bow out on their own terms, and no-one has earned that more than Ben, but announcing before or after the game seems like a more sensible approach. When you are in the middle of a match, the only thing that matters is the performance of the team.

“It is a small gripe in the greater scheme of things. English cricket will be far worse (and less interesting!) without Ben involved. Opposition teams will be breathing a sigh of relief and there will be a huge vacuum in the England team that will be impossible to fill.”