Ben Stokes hopes that his retirement call changes things for the good, with an excessive amount of cricket matches being played in present times. This comes just a day after Stokes made his last appearance in the format in England’s 62-run defeat to South Africa at the Riverside Ground.
The all-rounder was at the forefront of England’s rise as a top ODI side under Eoin Morgan and the team’s World Cup win three years ago, bagging the Player of the Match in a thrilling final at Lord’s. That the next competition is just a year away, the 31-year-old’s call arguably serves as an eye-opener if one was ever needed with regards to the jam-packed cricketing calendar.
Stokes, who was named the England Test captain earlier this year, stated in an official statement that it had become “unsustainable” for him to continue playing the three formats. That after he skipped the three-match T20I series against India earlier this month, straight after leading the side to four Test wins.
He will skip the three-match T20I series against the Proteas and the Hundred too, with three more Tests to be played in August-September.
“We are not cars. You can’t just fill us up and we’ll go out there and be ready to be fuelled up again. We had a Test series and then the one-day team had a series going on at the same time – that was a bit silly.
Obviously you want to play as much cricket as you possibly can but when it is making you feel tired, sore and you’ve got to look towards five or six months down the road for what you’re doing in the here and now it is probably not the best thing.”
he said in a chat with the Test Match Special, per ESPNcricinfo.
England, alongside India and Australia, are set to play a huge chunk of international games in the ICC’s next FTP cycle, not to forget an ICC tournament every year in the period. Stokes remains concerned that the excessive cricket might compromise the quality on display.
“The more cricket that is played, the better for the sport, but you want a product that is of the highest quality. You want the best players to be playing as much as you possibly can, all the time, and it isn’t just me or us.
You see it all around the world now where teams are having to rest some players in a certain series so they feel like they are getting a break.”
he added.
For Stokes, the primary goal remains to prolong his Test career, with him following the same path as those of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who still lead the England pace attack in red-ball cricket after having last played international white-ball cricket in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
“I asked Stuart if he felt that not playing white-ball cricket was a reason he is still playing now, 160 Tests. He said without a shadow of a doubt, yes. I want to play 140-150 Tests for England,”
revealed Stokes.
