Former England captain Michael Vaughan is keen to see Ben Stokes reverse his ODI retirement. The star all-rounder showed his class as he hit an unbeaten 52 to steer England to glory in the T20 World Cup final against Pakistan.
His starring performance in Melbourne is the latest clutch performance he has delivered and the 2005 Ashes-winning captain is desperate to see the 31-year-old represent England at the next 50-over tournament in 2023. “Can you play in next year's 50-over World Cup please @benstokes38!! Asking for a nation,” he pleaded on twitter.
In an ODI career that commenced in 2011, Stokes played 105 matches and scored 2,924 runs at an average of 39.44 and took 74 wickets. This puts the 31-year-old all‑rounder is 19th on England’s all-time list for both runs scored and wickets taken.
Stokes' finest hour in the format came in the 2019 final as he scored 84 not out to help his side to their maiden 50-over World Cup victory over New Zealand at Lord's. But he opted to retire from ODI cricket this summer and played his last match in the format against South Africa in July. The cricketer cited an unsustainable and demanding schedule as the reason for making a very difficult decision.
“This has been an incredibly tough decision to make,” Stokes said. “I have loved every minute of playing with my mates for England. Hard as this decision was to come to, it’s not as hard as dealing with the fact I can’t give my teammates 100% of myself in this format any more.
“The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it. Three formats are just unsustainable for me now. Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us but I also feel that I am taking the place of another player who can give the team their all.”
This past summer senior England teams played 44 of the 103 days between the start of their first Test in June and the end of their last in September, with significant further commitments for training and travel.
“It is ridiculous the amount of cricket that is expected of people to play,” Stokes added. “It really needs looking at from a workload point of view. It is just so much. I don’t want to miss England matches.
“I want to play as much as I can for England and in an ideal world you would have a schedule that allows you to play everything, but unfortunately it is not possible. The schedules need to get looked at.”
