From the ECB to ICC, governing bodies need to realise how the packed schedule makes the 50-over game vulnerable
It feels fitting in some ways that during a week that is hotter than Hades – when alarm bells about our direction of travel should be ringing even louder – Ben Stokes has announced his retirement from one-day international cricket.
Yep, the champion all-rounder who powered England to World Cup victory by the barest of margins three summers ago, in front of a packed house at Lord’s and with the UK’s largest cricket audience since the heady 2005 Ashes, has decided the 50-over stuff must make way. If not, his schedule as an elite all-format player would become suffocating. The hope now is that this similarly prompts a wake-up call.
Written by Ali Martin
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2022/jul/18/ben-stokes-odi-retirement-wake-up-call-ecb-icc-cricket under the title “Ben Stokes’ ODI retirement should be a wake-up call to cricket’s leaders | Ali Martin”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
