Ben Stokes’ retirement from ODI cricket reinforces three things we already knew: first, he is utterly motivated by Test cricket; second, men's ODI cricket is dying before our eyes; third, that England’s schedule makes it almost impossible to represent the national team across all formats.
Stokes bowed out with a pop at his employers, that did not have to be made. This was a reluctant retirement, a necessary ordering of commitments for a big ticket item who, in his thirties, does not believe it is possible to give everything in every format.
