Ben Stokes’ ODI retirement – a stern warning for the ICC: England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes’ ODI retirement on Monday, July 18, came as a shocker for the cricket fraternity worldwide. Stokes decided he would be playing his final ODI match against South Africa in front of his home ground on Tuesday, July 19.
The hero of the 2019 ODI World Cup, Ben Stokes decided to draw curtains to his 50-over career due to packed international series and fixtures.
Notably, Ben Stokes played a key role in England’s triumph in the last ODI World Cup. He played an impactful knock in the World Cup final to defeat New Zealand and bagged the first-ever 50-overs World Cup for his country.
Describing the rationale behind his decision of quitting the ODI format, Stokes said: “The schedule is jam-packed, and you’re asking a lot of the players to keep putting in 100% of their efforts every time you walk onto the field for your country. We’re not cars where you can fill us up with petrol. It does all add up, it does have an effect on you.”
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“It was never going to be an easy one, but now being the captain of the Test team and how much cricket is coming up, I have to look after my body because I want to play as long as I possibly can,” Stokes added.
Adding up to his decision, Stokes was inspired by James Anderson and Stuart Broad’s decision to quit white ball cricket to prolong their test career, which, in fact, has paid dividends to the two aforementioned English bowlers.
“I look at how Jimmy and Broady’s careers have gone since they stopped playing white-ball cricket. I want to play 140, 150 Test matches for England. It’s come earlier than I would have liked but in T20 cricket I bowl two or three overs here and there. Hopefully when I’m 35, 36 I can look back on this decision and say I’m happy with it,” Stokes added.
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