Ben Stokes to Retire? Plus World Cup Visa Chaos!

Ben Stokes to Retire? Plus World Cup Visa Chaos!

From Hawksbee and Jacobs Daily by talkSPORT

June 9, 2026 · 45 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Ben Stokes' potential retirement from cricket and the World Cup visa controversy involving referee Omar Artan.

Paul Hawksbee and Andy Jacobs bring you a packed show tracking the massive breaking story in English cricket. The Cricketer's senior correspondent George Dobell joins the podcast to break down why he believes Test captain Ben Stokes is on the verge of stepping down and retiring from the sport entirely by the end of the day. Shifting focus to football, former referee and broadcaster Christina Unkel helps make sense of the breaking World Cup controversy after top Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry into the United States, completely ruling him out of officiating the tournament. Plus, comedian and Watford die-hard Dee Allum stops by to discuss her wild plan to watch absolutely every single match of the tournament. Finally, comedian and Evertonian Phil Nichol drops in to talk about returning to the Edinburgh Fringe for his first show in seven years, 'Aren't We Lucky'. You can check out a detailed breakdown of the cricket breaking news on talkSPORT .com Follow us on socials: X/Twitter: @tSHandJ Instagram: @tSHandJ YouTube: talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Paul Hawksbee, Andy Jacobs

Guests: George Dobell, Christina Unkel, Dee Allum, Phil Nichol

Topics covered

  • cricket
  • World Cup
  • retirement
  • refereeing
  • comedy
  • sports news

Keywords

  • Ben Stokes
  • World Cup
  • cricket
  • referee
  • Omar Artan
  • comedy
  • Edinburgh Fringe

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: talkSPORT, Acast

Books & works: Aren't We Lucky

Places: United States, Edinburgh Fringe

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