Ben Stokes’ much celebrated return in time for the 2023 World Cup after shockingly calling it quits in the 50-overs game last summer hasn’t gone down well with former Australia skipper Tim Paine. The premier allrounder and England’s 2019 Lord’s hero, Paine believes, is being unfair to the rest of the three lions’ World Cup hopefuls.
Paine feels other English cricketers making way for Stokes after putting in the hard yards in the last 12 months are being discouraged and handed rough deals by the selectors and the team management.
The Ashes rival also indirectly insisted it is a case of selfish attitude and a sense of entitlement from Stokes to pick and choose when he wanted to retire and now when he wishes to come back into the reckoning.
“It was a bit of, ‘Me, me, me’, there isn’t it? It was, ‘I’ll pick and I’ll choose where I want to play and when I want to play’, and, ‘I’ll play in the big tournaments’.
Paine said on SEN Radio.
“The guys who played for 12 months, ‘Sorry, thanks. But can you go and sit on the bench because I want to play now?’.”
A major casualty of Stokes’ comeback has already been seen in the form of Harry Brook, the rising young middle-order batter, who has been left out of England’s preliminary squad picked for the World Cup ahead of next month’s home ODI series against New Zealand.
While Brook’s inexperience – having played just 3 ODIs and 18 List A matches – may not have measured up to the weight of Stokes’ proven big-match temperament and abilities, England selector Luke Wright said it was his “hardest decision“ to leave out an obviously talented right-hander, who has been integral to England’s Test match resurgence in the ‘Bazball’ era.
The cricketer was left heartbroken with his non-selection but said he is “trying not to think” about it or let the disappointment consume his headspace. Brook told the press he is keeping a pragmatic outlook about the matter, with Stokes being “one of the best players to ever play cricket” according to him.
The cricketer does concede, however, he would’ve had a greater opportunity to push for a World Cup spot if the calendar wasn’t running on an acute shortage of 50-overs assignments in recent months.
