New Delhi: Former England captain Nasser Hussain has lamented the schedule ICC keeps for players to cope up with. He finds the present cricketing schedule absolutely “joke at the moment.” On Monday, Ben Stokes stunned the cricketing world when he announced his retirement from ODIs aged just 31. He stated the reason that his body cannot give 100% to the England shirt and must be worn by someone else.
“I will play my last game for England in ODI cricket on Tuesday in Durham. I have decided to retire from this format. This has been an incredibly tough decision to make. I have loved every minute of playing with my mates for England. We have had an incredible journey on the way. 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. It’s time for someone else to progress as a cricketer and make incredible memories like I have over the past 11 years,” said Stokes on his Instagram post.
However, Stokes stressed on the fact that his retirement will make him much more focused in Tests and T20I’s as he’s recently been made the Test skipper of England Cricket Team.
“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. I would like to wish Jos Buttler, Matthew Mott, the players and the support staff every success going forward. We have made great strides in white-ball cricket over the past seven years, and the future looks bright. I have loved all 104 games I have played so far, I’ve got one more, and it feels amazing to be playing my last game at my home ground in Durham. As always, the England fans have always been there for me and will continue to be there. You’re the best fans in the world. I hope we can win on Tuesday and set the series up nicely against South Africa. Thanks,” he added.
Following the announcement of Stokes, Nasser Hussain was left unimpressed by the role of ICC in present scenario of cricket schedule and had shared his views with Sky Sports in an interview.
"It is disappointing news to say the least but it is a reflection of where the cricketing schedule is at the moment. It is madness for players. If the ICC just keep putting on ICC events and individual boards just keep filling the gaps with as much cricket as possible, eventually these cricketers will just say I'm done. Stokes is done with one format aged 31, which can't be right, really. The schedule needs looking at, it is a bit of a joke at the moment," said Hussain.
"It looks like 50-over cricket is the one everyone is looking at, because everyone loves Test match cricket and everyone loves T20 cricket. The IPL is getting a wider window, so that'll go on for even longer and players will pull out. South Africa have also pulled out of a bilateral series coming up in white-ball cricket which could cost them qualification to the World Cup, and that is a big deal," he added.
Nasser Hussain too, was left stunned by the decision and shared his views with Sky Sports in an interview.
"It came as a surprise, to be honest. You thought he would be looked after, in terms of being rested from various white-ball tournaments and formats - he'd already announced he was going to miss white-ball series, and The Hundred. To completely knock 50-over cricket on the head is a massive surprise." Said former England skipper.
"I guess it's the schedule. The cricketing schedule is absolutely crazy at the moment. If you just play in the one format - say Test matches - it's absolutely fine. But if you're a multi-format, multi-dimensional player, and even a Test match captain like Stokes, who throws himself into his job 100 per cent on and off the field, eventually something's going to have to give. For Ben, it is 50-over cricket, which is a real shame because he gave us and England fans their greatest day for a very long time in 2019, a day we'll never forget with that World Cup final win," he added.