England Test captain and premier all-rounder Ben Stokes has announced his ODI retirement after the first of three games against South Africa in Chester-Le-Street on July 19. The 31-year-old, in a statement released on Monday, said that playing the three formats is “unsustainable for me now”.
Stokes, who was appointed the full-time Test captain at the start of the home summer, has represented England in 104 ODIs till date, his most memorable being the 2019 World Cup final against New Zealand at Lord’s, wherein his unbeaten 84 pushed the game into the Super Over, which the hosts went on to win to lift the cup.
“I will play my last game for England in ODI cricket on Tuesday in Durham. As hard as a decision as this was to come to, it’s not as hard dealing with the fact I can’t give my teammates 100% of myself in this format anymore. 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 Jos and the rest of the team their all.
“I will give everything I have to Test cricket, and now, with this decision, I feel I can also give my total commitment to the T20 format,”
the player wrote on Instagram.
Stokes has scored 2,919 runs at 39.45 and a strike-rate of 95.27 while also having bagged 74 wickets at 41.8 in the ODI format to date. His retirement call leaves another major void in England’s ODI setup after World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan had called it quits from the international game last month.
