England Test captain Ben Stokes reveals his frustration at not being able to give everything behind his decision to leave ODI Cricket… as his departure ended with a wet bang as he emerged in a defeat by South Africa five fell
- Ben Stokes played his last one-day international for England on Tuesday
- It ended in disappointment when he only made a five with the bat and went wicketless
- England lost the Durham game to South Africa by 62 runs
- The 31-year-old has now retired from the format to focus on Test and T20 cricket
- He revealed he had spoken to Jos Buttler and Stuart Broad when making his decision
Ben Stokes’ departure from one-day international cricket was a wet smash as he fell for five runs and halted England’s white-ball malaise in a 62-run loss to South Africa.
The 31-year-old announced on Monday he would be leaving the 50-over format after last night’s match and ended it in disappointing fashion with bat and ball, completing 44 runs in five wicketless overs.
In sweltering conditions, Rassie van der Dussen’s 134 and Aiden Markram’s 77 put South Africa under control while giving England a mammoth 334. Stokes fell cheaply in response, lbw while sweeping Markram backwards.
Ben Stokes has revealed he has spoken to both Jos Buttler and Stuart Broad about his retirement from ODI
But he went to a standing ovation from his home crowd in Chester-le-Street. England fell far short of their target when they suffered their fifth defeat in seven white ball games this summer.
Stokes had previously revealed he was aiming to play 150 Tests after retiring from ODI to emulate his England team-mates Jimmy Anderson on 172 Test caps and Stuart Broad on 156.
“As captain of the Test team I have to watch my body with so much cricket because I want to play as long as possible,” Stokes, who has played 83 Tests, told Sportsmail’s Nasser Hussain on Sky ahead of Tuesday’s game.
“I look at how Jimmy and Broady’s careers have gone since they stopped playing white ball cricket. I asked Stuart if he thought he stopped playing white ball cricket because he was still playing. He said, without a doubt, yes.
Stokes and Buttler chatted earlier this month in the wake of England’s ODI dispute with India
The 31-year-old wanted Broad’s thoughts on how best to extend his Test career in cricket
“I want to play 140-150 Tests for England. It came much sooner than I would have liked at 31 and gave up one of the formats. But in T20 I can bowl two to three overs here and there. Longevity I was thinking of.
“Hopefully when I’m 35-36 and still playing Test cricket I can look back on that decision and say I’m very happy with it.
“I always want to contribute something to the team, to be there 100 percent. We are not cars that you can fill up and let go. It affects you, the gaming, the travelling, it adds up.
Mark Wood faces more surgeries to keep his Twenty20 World Cup hopes alive
“The schedule is packed at the moment, requiring many players to give 100 per cent effort every time they step on the field.”
Stokes said he told captain Jos Buttler about his decision to step down from his 50-over duty after last week’s 10-wicket loss to India at the Oval. But the Durham star received a request to play one last ODI “where it all started for me” and led the team to the Riverside.
Meanwhile, Mark Wood faces more surgeries as he tries to keep his Twenty20 World Cup hopes alive. Wood has already had surgery on a stress fracture to his right elbow this summer but needs another after an adverse reaction at the end of a comeback appearance for club team Ashington on Saturday.
