England’s Ben Stokes retires from ODI cricket because of ‘unsustainable’ schedule – صحيفة الصوت

England Test captain Ben Stokes is retiring from one-day internationals because of what he describes as an “unsustainable” cricket schedule.

Stokes, whose final ODI will be against South Africa on Tuesday, said he remains fully committed to Twenty20 internationals as well as the test captaincy.

His retirement from the 50-over format ends a career that peaked with a man-of-the-match performance in the World Cup final of 2019.

ODIs will no longer be part of the punishing schedule of a 31-year-old superstar all-rounder who had a break from the sport last year for his mental health.

“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 per cent of myself in this format anymore,” Stokes said.

“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 [England ODI captain] Jos [Buttler] and the rest of the team their all.”

The match against South Africa will be Stokes’s 105th ODI for England and comes at the Riverside ground at Chester-le-Street, the home of his county team Durham.

Stokes’s defining performance in ODIs came in the 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s when he scored 84 not out as England tied New Zealand’s score and then eight more runs in the deciding super over. The teams also were tied after the super over and England won on boundary countback.