England’s 2019 World Cup winner Ben Stokes shocked the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from One-Day International cricket at the age of 31 on Monday. In his retirement message, Ben mentioned that playing all three formats was taking a toll on him. Stokes is regarded as one of the best all-rounders in the world, and his retirement announcement rose many eyebrows. Former England captain Nasser Hussain also said that an overdose of cricket is making players retire from international cricket.
Stepping out in ODI cricket at his home ground for one last time.
#ENGvSA | @benstokes38 pic.twitter.com/oTUhHWQJku
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 19, 2022
One day after his retirement, Stokes slammed England Cricket Board. He said that cricketers are not cars that can be filled and expect to run.
In an interaction with BBC Test Match Special Stokes said, “There is too much cricket rammed in for people to play all three formats now. 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. Hopefully, when I’m still playing at 36 I can look back at this moment and say it was a big reason behind why I’m still able to get out on the park and represent England in Test cricket.”
England cricket team’s schedule from July to November
3 ODIs against South Africa
3 T20Is against South Africa
3 Test against South Africa
3 T20Is against Australia
3 ODIs against Australia
ICC T20 World Cup 2022
The 31-year-old, who scored only 48 runs and bowled only three overs in the ODI series against India, which England lost 1-2, said he took the decision to call it quits in the 50-over format after the first game against the Rohit Sharma-led team.
“After that one-day game, it hit me in the face. In a quick chat with Jos [Buttler] after the game, I said that if the game was in a different position I’d have bowled more for him. We had five minutes together, he said you don’t owe the team anything and that I had a lot of cricket coming up. That was nice to hear. I went away and had five minutes to myself, I told him I almost felt a bit useless that I can’t do that. It’s not a nice feeling, knowing I have to look after myself, the captain is trying to look after me, the medical team and the coach as well. It’s international cricket you can’t be doing that,” he said.
The England Test skipper also gave examples of Stuart Broad (36) and James Anderson (39), who have been able to sustain their cricket career because they play only the red-ball format. He also revealed a conversation with Broad where the latter spoke about playing a limited number of games as the reason for his longevity.
“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. “It’s come a lot earlier than I would have liked at 31 years old, giving one of the formats up. T20 bowl, 2-3 overs here and there. Longevity I have thought about. Hopefully, when I’m 35, 36, still playing Test cricket, I can look back on this decision and say I’m very happy with it,” Stokes said.
Will Ben Stokes make comeback in ODI cricket?
Stokes was also asked if he would make comeback in ODI cricket ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023. The England all-rounder said that it would not be fair on other players if he comes back from retirement ahead of an ICC event.
“You obviously think about stuff like that but what I don’t want to be doing is saying ‘Nah, I won’t play that’ but when an ICC event comes up, ‘Yeah’,” said Stokes. “This gives an amazing opportunity for somebody to come in and get experience and then hopefully go and win that World Cup again like we did in 2019. It wouldn’t be fair on anyone who gets that opportunity with me not playing this format now to all of a sudden be like ‘Yeah, I’ll come back,” he added.